Winging It

The Angry Elf – App Review

Anne — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:03:11 +0000

I might just be reviewing one of the WORST apps ever, The Angry Elf. To be fair, I can’t just review my favorites so here goes… This app is supposed to be fun with great graphics. While we all know, I have a great sense of humor and love spectacular graphics. This app is so stupid, you supposedly can ask it questions and then it will respond. I asked it a variety of questions, some that have actual answer, some wanting creative answers. I received the same answers over and over again and they weren’t even funny. They did spend a considerable amount of time on graphics, as they are fantastic. They should have just spent more time creating functionality with the elf.

Pros: It’s pretty to look at!

Cons: Stupid and repeated answers leave me seriously disappointed.

Platform: iOS

Price: $2.99 (I did not pay $2.99, I found it when it was free)

Rating:

(On a scale of 1-5 undies, 5 being best.)

Screenshots:

Master your rice cooker

Anne — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:55:32 +0000

Have you purchased or recieved a rice cooker only to be irritated at the inability to make rice? We received one as a wedding present, I was determined to make it work. I kept using it as the directions said… each and every time I had hard and crunchy rice. So… after some searching (Mr. Supermom did help searching), I’ve finally master the rice cooker. I thought I’d share the secrets with you…

1. Throw away the manual. Ok don’t throw it away, cause you might need it for the warranty or something, but don’t use it.

2. Measure out how many cups of rice. As you can see here, I measured using the provided cup. This is ok, as long as you use the same measuring tool when you do the water.

3. Wash the rice. Have you ever played Cooking Mama? She makes you spin the rice, that’s exactly what you do.

4. Drain the water.

5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 until your water is no longer cloudy. I have found with white rice this can be 4-5 times, basmati usually 2-3.

6. Depending on the rice type, measure water. I have found that 2 parts of water, per 1 part of white rice works great in mine (2 cups of water, 1 cup of rice). Basmati I usually do 2.5 parts water, per 1 part rice (2.5 cups rice, 1 cup of rice).

7. Turn it on.

8. Watch for the pot to start making pretty bubbles. I wait until they’ve hit the lid. Then left the lid, so they don’t boil over.

9. When it finishes immediatly unplug it. Do not let it use the warming feature. This makes for crunchy rice.

10. Wait at least 5 min before opening lid, for the rice to cool off. Then fluff the rice with a fork or provided tool.

11. Time to eat!

AppShopper – app review

Anne — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:02:33 +0000

This week’s review is one that anyone who tells they recently purchase an iphone, ipad or ipod, the first app I recommend is AppShopper. This app will help you save a TON of money. You can go through and make a wish list of the apps you want to purchase, then when they go on sale it notifies you. Often when I’m searching the web, I update my list at the same time. While doing my research for this post, I found out on their website I can actually see my list there as well, just another reason for me to love it. Another cool feature is you can see the app’s activity. What is that important? Well… if you want an app and you can’t wait, if you look at the activity and see it’s never been on sale, then no need to wait. A lot of times, you can figure out their pattern for putting it on sale, then make a better decision and not think darn it… I should have waited a week. This app also tracks the apps you currently own. Now why is that helpful… well, couple reasons… 1) you’ve done a little clean up on your device, but you need a new game, go revisit what you have and re-download. 2)Your friends aren’t as cool as you are, you keep telling them a particlar app is a must have. You get the price drop message… oh yeah you tell them now is the time to buy!

Posr: Super easy to use. Great way to save some itunes cash! Um… hello it’s free!!!!

Cons: Doesn’t integrate with Genius so you have to flip back and forth to add your recommendations.

Platform: iOS

Price: $0, but if you don’t like the ads, in the settings you can purchase an ad free version for $0.99.

Rating:

(On a scale of 1-5 undies, 5 being best.)

Screenshots:

iRewardChart – app review

Anne — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:24:51 +0000

I’ve decided that I get asked often enough about different apps or I look at someone and think, didn’t I tell you about that? Well here… now I can’t say I didn’t, cause they’re right here. I’m going to be doing a series of blog posts that review different apps.

The first app I’m going to review is iRewardChart. Good news it’s available on most smart phones and tablets. I’m sure at some point in our life we had a sticker chart for chores, tasks and behaviors, iRewardChart brings just that to the digital age.

This apps gets my thumbs up!!! I absolutely love it. With a simple tap, I can add stars to the app for things like manners, picking up, and even listening. I can customize these items for each child. Then the child can turn around and redeem those stars for rewards. Rewards I have chosen and payout values! The app does come with a pre-loaded list of items both as responsibilities and rewards, but you can either chose to use them or delete them. You can also edit the tasks and rewards for each child, very helpful if you have children of multiple ages.

Pros: Totally customizible for your family. Easy to keep track of as you can take it on the go, you do not need web capability.

Cons: I wish it had an account feature, so it could be used on multiple devices for the same family. I wouldn’t even mind having to pay for it twice to have the Android and iOS versions if they would sync.

Lite verion: Yes

Platforms: Android, iOS, KindleFire

Price: $3.99

Rating:

(On a scale of 1-5 undies, 5 being best.)

Screenshots:

The whole story

Anne — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:23:49 +0000

Friday morning around 11:30 am, Gavin started choking. He was crawling around on the floor by my work table, I picked him up. He started to vomit, I immediately held him horizontally so that he didn’t swallow any. Of course in the process, he hit me and the floor, but that really didn’t bother me. He still kept making sounds like he need to throw up more. Nothing foreign had come out, so I knew something was still wrong. My brain went into auto-pilot. I immeditaly called Scott’s mom to come be with Maddy. Then I called my mom, cause I knew Gavin couldn’t be in the back seat alone. The next call was to the doctor’s office, was I to go there or the ER. Gavin was normal color, a little irritible but not in danger at this point so need to call 9-1-1.

Side view

As soon as Paula came in, I handed Gavin to her so I could talk to the doctor’s office and get dressed. When my mom got here, we loaded into the car and went to Children’s Mercy South, which is now a full Emergency Department. They took x-rays. Even the x-ray tech noticed he wasn’t taking a deep breath. Finally the Dr came back in and said that indeed he had swallow something… a sewing needle or pin. Of course, immediently I was beside myself.
He told us he would get the paperwork and we needed to take Gavin to Children’s Mercy downtown, not. He wasn’t going to call an ambulance, but if we wanted him to, he would. Since my mom was driving Gavin and I, I wasn’t worried about that as I could sit in the back with him still.

When we arrived downtown, they admitted us right away. The resident surgeons came down and spoke with us. They were very suprised by Gavin, he was laughing and giggle at them. He had even fallen asleep in the car on the way down there. Shortly after they took us upstairs, we met with the anesthesiologist and the surgeon. They explained everything that was going to happen. We prayed with them as they were getting ready to take my baby boy in. There is nothing worse than leaving your child with someone else knowing he’s going into emergency surgery.

The golden Christmas tree

The staff at Children’s Mercy totally amazing! They took us over the Ronald McDonald waiting room, where were able to have some snacks as it was now almost 4 pm. Lunch hadn’t been in the events, nor would I have been able to keep it down. About 30 min after we left him, the surgeon called us into the hallway. He held up a container and said this was what it was. ugh It was a Christmas Tree sequin, something I had given Maddy to craft with! He then told us as soon as he got out of recovery, they would come and get us.

Finally, they came to get us. We waited outside the surgery area doors, as soon as the doors opened I heard him crying. They wheeled him around the corner, he really wanted mommy just to pick him up. He was such a little guy on this gurney. They wheeled him to his room, while we followed. All the while the nurses kept telling him, just a few more minutes and we’ll put you in mommy’s arms.

We reached his room, where they got him in my arms, he immediatlly settled down and nursed a bit. They had given him some pain medication when he woke up, so he was still very groggy. He fell back asleep very quickly, but I didn’t put him down! About an hour later he woke up, we got the disposible diaper (with him going into the OR they didn’t want our cloth to get lost) off of him and back into his comfy cloth one. We played for a bit and snuggle the rest of the night.

Finally around noon Saturday they released us to go home!!!! He is doing well and isn’t showing any signs of problems.

A big thanks to our friends and family that posted prayers and support as we going through the whole ordeal.

Subway Art – Names of Jesus – A gift

Anne — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:39:08 +0000

I have had this idea in my head for a while now, I finally made myself sit down and do it. This year, I’d like you my readers to benefit from my creative juices. I’m hoping to give ya’ll more things like these this year! Stay tune!!!

The first item of the year is… subway art! I’ve created it for you in 3 different colors (If I have a ton of requests, I’ll make some more color ways). All three are in a 8×10 size, so it’s printer friendly. Please be kind, feel free to give the link to the blog post, but not the direct link to the art. All three are included in one download. Click here for the download.

Our elves on the shelf – a review

Anne — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:29:00 +0000

Many of you with kids may have hear by now about Elf On The Shelf. Last year, was our first year with Buddy, our elf. This year Buddy brought along his friend Sophie. Boy did they have a blast! Check out their pictures…

New Year, New Blog

Anne — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 05:21:30 +0000

Have you been thinking about a blog makeover? Or a switching from a hosted platform to self hosted? I have two great deals for you!!!

1. Hostgator is running their annual Black Friday sale. 50% off all hosting packages!!!! Existing customers can take advantage of this sale if they open a new account. Their current account must be in good standing.

2. I’m running a New Year, New Blog Sale!

Ahhh… 3…

Anne — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 02:09:13 +0000

I can hardly believe it… my baby girl is really a big girl now… Last week we had 3, yes three major accomplishments!!!!

1) Maddy Lou is now potty trained!!! Woohoo!!!!

2) She graduated from Parents as Teacher… so so sad, we’re going to miss our visits with Ms. Janet. Look how cute she is here with her graduation hat!

3) She turned three… look at how cute she looked for her party (no, you didn’t miss the invite, it was a family only affair)…

As in usually supermom style, I did make her dress.. I mean seriously how cute is this!!! This is the first time we’ve put pig tails in her hair, now she’s wanted them all weekend.

And NO… there was no big announcement this year!!!!

Meals by the Week

Anne — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 04:21:25 +0000

If you’re friends with me on Facebook, you might have seen some of my comments about this new site I’ve been trying out… drum roll… Meals by the Week. If you’re a regular reader or know me in real life, you know cooking isn’t one of my 10 ten things I must do, but as a family we all know how important it is.

Well, I have to tell you, my opinion has recently changed! While Guy Fieri isn’t going to show up to do a segment from my kitchen, I am cooking things other than grilled cheese and meatloaf (ok, Scott isn’t cooking just meatloaf). The time preparing my grocery list has gone from 30+ min to less than 5! How’s that for saving some time. Barbara aka Ms. Meals by the Week creates a menu for the major grocery stores by what is on sale, then I go in and pick out what I want to actually serve. Did I just here some ahhhs from the audiences…. I should have… cause let me tell you, this woman is my new super hero. I think I should sew her a Super Meal Cape!!!

Only one of the meals we’ve prepaired is a menu item we would normally make, so we’re full of variety around here. Not only that, I like to brag about what I’m cooking for dinner…. yes brag!!! I’ve made things like chicken rossotio and chicken curry (even Mr. “I don’t like curry” had seconds of that one). The other thing is they are balanced meals, healthy meals… yes healthy, not crap out of a box and thrown together. I really like salad, but I forget to eat it when I’m home, (I don’t know why, I just do), but she puts it on the menu several nights a week. This site has transformed our dinners!

So let’s talk pros here…

Meals planned around grocery sales

Quick fix meals (I’ve not spent more than 1 hour cooking any meal).

Healthy meals

No leftovers = additional savings from wasted food

Constant variety

Price!!! Really, it doesn’t get any cheaper than $1.25 a week

Cons…

Honestly the only one I’ve found is that there isn’t an app for my iPad, we all know I’m kinda paperless around here. I’ve requested it and have been told it’s coming down the pipe. With that being said, the website is very mobile friendly so it’s not a major issue.

Are you dying to see it in action? Well here’s a video tour of the site… in less than 7 min I’ll give you a tour AND print out my grocery list. Meals by the Week Video Tour

* Disclaimer - I did receive a trial period in order to review this product, my opinion is strictly my own and was not influence by the free trial.