Tonka XT Ricochet Tricksters

My boys really dig remote controlled cars. Unfortunately, we haven’t had any that are worth playing with. Not an exaggeration by any means. They’ve either been cheap or required massive batteries. So, when I saw that BzzAgent was giving me the opportunity to try out the  Tonka XT Ricochet Trickster I jumped at the chance.

We received the Trickster and the boys immediately ripped into the packaging. Got our batteries out and they tried playing with it. Oops, boys, let’s read the instructions and see that the remote needs to be plugged into the car to give it a charge.We got the car charging and the boys went about their day for a couple of hours and then wanted to try the car out again. I let them and only one wheel would spin. They tried this for about half an hour. I told them we needed to let it charge overnight, figuring the first time it charges it must need some extra time.

The next day the boys got home from school excited to try out the Trickster. Nothing. Nada. It just sat there. It would budge slightly, but there was no forward movement. They kept trying again for a while and finally I told them to just put it on the counter and I’d have to get in touch with BzzAgent.

BzzAgent and I shared a couple of emails, but what it came down to was, this is my experience with the car. If it doesn’t work, then I need to share my experience. Made sense to me. Bummed, but made sense.

A few days later Doodle noticed the Tonka XT Ricochet Trickster sitting on the couch and decided to give it a try again. Lo and behold the thing moved! Not only did it move, it seriously went fast! Trust me, my boys were elated and I was relieved.

They have had fun trying to learn how to control it and make it do tricks. They’ve used books and chairs around the house to create obstacles. The Trickster can zoom over lots of different stacks my boys set up.One of the down sides is that the charge doesn’t last long. My boys would set up a course for the car, practice it, tweak it and then I’d run over to get video and would leave empty handed because the batteries were dead. The good thing is, my boys are getting creative when it comes to what they build!

I’m not sure that we’ve found the perfect R/C car, but the boys are enjoying it while it’s charged!

I’m a BzzAgent and received a free Tonka XT Ricochet Trickster. The opinions expressed are my own and never influenced by the company.

Wordless Wednesday: In the Kitchen With Grandpa

 

Grandpa and Grandma came over to cook the Northerns the boys had caught about a month ago. Doodle really wanted to help and asked so many questions! It was so cute to see him with Grandpa!

Women of Faith ~ After the Conference

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the Women of Faith Imagine Conference at the Xcel Energy Center. I have been going to WOF conferences off an on for about 15 yrs. It's always fun to find out which speakers will be at the conferences I attend since it's different every time. I was also excited to find out who will be singing!

Let me just say, the music was spectacular. I always enjoy the Worship Teams. They really get us ready to worship and hear the speakers. This year Mary Mary and Natalie Grant were there to share their music with us. I can't begin to tell you how out of our seats they made us! We were seriously rocking the Xcel Energy Center! Yes, Christian women can get their groove on!

Sheila Walsh

We were blessed to have:

• Dr. Henry Cloud
• Sheila Walsh
• Luci Swindoll
• Nicole Johnson
• Lisa Harper
• John Branyan
• Angie Smith
• Natalie Grant
• Mary Mary
• Imagine Worship Team

Being in a Center full of women who are singing praises and having their hearts turned toward their Savior is one of the most amazing feelings we can experience. Each speaker touched my heart in a new way.

I spent my time tweeting during the conference because there was so much wonderful thoughts to share with all of my twitter friends. You'll find the Imagine Conference on Twitter using the #wofimagine hashtag. It was somewhat amusing when the conference attendees were asked if anyone used Twitter. I think about 10 of us "wooted".

For me the overriding theme was that I matter, each of us matters to our God. It's a hard concept for me to claim because having a hard time believing I matter here to earthly people can make it even harder to believe that I'd matter to the Creator of the universe.

One of my friends on Twitter @stevegutzler encouraged me to write down 3 things I want to focus on from the conference. Here are the 3 that stood out to me:

1. Do I know God loves me passionately the way I am?
2. God will take the broken pieces and make them beautiful ~ trash into treasure. All we can do is bring our pieces to Him.
3. If I get lost out there, He will know where to find me. Say to myself, "Which girl does Jesus love? This girl."

I was happy to know Angie Smith was going to be speaking as I had read her story on her blog and knew her story somewhat. This is her first year with the Women of Faith tour. When she got up on that stage, she was so transparent in how hard it was to stand in front of all of us. I wanted to go up and just give her a reassuring hug. Of course I didn't because people would've thought I was nutty.

If you love comedy, John Branyan is THE guy to see. First time hearing his material and he had all of us in hysterics! This guy knows women and even with him making fun of how quirky we can be, we totally saw ourselves in his routine! Watch this video to get an idea of one of the spots he did.

Mary Graham, President of Women of Faith with me!

I love that at each Women of Faith event, World Vision is promoted and each person is able to impact the life of a child.This year they were really encouraging the ladies to find a boy to sponsor. If I weren't a single mom, I would absolutely do this as my boys would love having such a far reaching affect.

If you've ever considered attending a Women of Faith Conference, I would highly encourage you to get tickets for the next event in your area. This was the first year I've ever attended by myself. It was different, and I would suggest you go with a group of your girlfriends. While you're waiting for the next conference, make sure to follow them:

Twitter

Facebook

YouTube

I'd like to thank Thomas Nelson for providing my ticket to this years Women of Faith Imagine Conference. I was not compensated in any other way. The opinions expressed are my own and are never influenced by the company.

Hillshire Farms Gourmet Creations #Cbias #GourmetCreations

I have to admit, when I get the opportunity to try new food I’m usually jumping on whatever bandwagon is available! Hillshire Farms Gourmet Creations was the newest item up to try this past week!

As I usually do, I went shopping after work. I have no desire to drive a half an hour home, pick up the boys, just to turn around and drive back another half an hour, shop with them and then drive back home. Oh how I love shopping on my own.I went first to the frozen foods because I have to be honest, I wasn’t sure what I was even looking for. I’d forgotten to visit Hillshire Farms online to take a peek. Nothing in the frozen foods. So, instead of wandering aimlessly, I dug out my phone and went online. SCORE! Turns out they were going to be found in the deli meat aisle.

I headed over a couple of aisles and there they were with all the other Hillshire Farms sausages. Oh my gosh, I looked at the four packages they offered and knew that I was going to have some really yummy meals! Looking around I didn’t find anything that was as appealing. The four flavors I found:

• Beef and Bacon
• Chicken and Apple
• Beef and Jalapeno
• Spicy Italian Sausage

I was shopping on an empty stomach so I stuck the first three in my shopping cart. As I  had hoped as I continued thru the store, Hillshire Farms had some recipe ideas inside the cardboard packaging. That certainly helped me shop for all the other items I might need for the meals I was going to prepare. Unfortunately when I got to the checkout line, I forgot to tear off the $ .55 coupons that were attached to each of the packages! It was a V8 moment when I got home and saw them still attached!My first thought was to use the Beef and Bacon in an egg bake so that meant I needed eggs and cheese. The rest I would have at home. The next meal would be a Mexican dinner so I needed some black beans, tomato, and olives. I already had the cheese from the first meal I was going to create and I had tortilla chips at home. The third meal was giving me a bit of a pause. I’m not so hot when it comes to making meals out of my own head. I thought I’d either make a salad or a sandwich which meant I needed some good rolls and apples.I got the rest of my groceries and headed home to do some cooking. It was late afternoon and I hit allrecipes.com for a good sausage and egg bake. I found and Easy Sausage Strata and set about putting it together. What I didn’t realize, the recipe was supposed to sit in the fridge overnight. Well, ok then.I got that meal totally together and set about making myself something for lunch and decided to use the Chicken and Apple sausage. I cooked up one of the sausages, and when I pulled it out of the pan it had a great aroma of apple! I had cut slices of apple very thin, put the sausage on one side of a bun and the apple with cheese on the other half. Then I broiled the sandwich for about 5 minutes. When I pulled it out I added tomato, spinach and Mayo. I was so bummed that I had no avocado! Man that was one good sandwich. The apple in the sausage was enhanced by the apple slices on the sandwich.The next day we had the Sausage Strata for dinner. I mean, who doesn’t love eating breakfast for dinner. My boys looked at it a bit skeptically, but once I mentioned that the sausage was Beef & Bacon it didn’t take much coaxing to get them to dig in! My Doodle said, “My favorite part is the sausage.” Yes! The strata really filled us all up pretty quickly.

My next meal will be the Mexican bake. That will be made this week sometime. My boys love Mexican food so this should be a hit as well. Make sure you check out the entire shopping and meal photos and story at Google +.

When you buy a new product do you get an idea of what you’re going to create right away or do you have to search through recipes to come up with something?

This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. All opinions are my own and never influenced by the company.

Win Your Gifts Hop $119 and 6 Winners

How excited are you that Christmas is just around the corner? To help you get started on your holiday gifts, I have 6 prizes to giveaway to 6 lucky winners!

Here’s what you have a chance of winning:

$25 Think Geek Gift Certificate

Umbrella from Kidorable (RV $13.50)

$15 iTunes Gift Card

$25 Macy’s Gift Card

Krups Coffee Grinder (RV $20)

Angels4Epilepsy Tutu (only not leotard) size infant-10 girls (RV $20)