We have all heard the horror stories of people’s houses having carbon monoxide in them and the close calls that the families had because of breathing the gases for too long and not even realizing it.   Save your family from this type scare by purchasing a First Alert CO600 Plug In Carbon Monoxide Alarm for your home that will keep you and your family safe and sound.

The alarm will alert you to the carbon monoxide which you can’t see, smell or taste in the air and would otherwise never realize was there, plus the symptoms that result from smelling carbon monoxide are similar to those of the flu, but can lead to death.

Obtaining an alarm is the smart and safe thing to do for you and your family.

Photo credit: Kay Garston

It is interesting to see how each generation has it’s own special toys that can define it. When he was a boy, my brother had two obsessions. He loved the He-Man series and he loved his Transformers toys. He had a lot of both of them, and he played with them all the time. But playing by himself was hard, so I sometimes played with him. I wasn’t a huge fan of either one, so I suspect that he didn’t have much fun with me. I didn’t know a lot about the toys so I really didn’t know what I was doing. But my brother really loved them and on a rainy day, he could easily spend hours playing with his toys by himself.

It was a lot of fun for me to play with his Transformer Toys though. I liked to watch them change from one thing to the other. They were quite intriguing. The Transformer Toys that he received as gifts were the very same that we used to watch on television every week. They were for the most part trucks and cars that turned into something else, though there were also other types you could buy. Some of those transformers toys were expensive, and he knew he couldn’t have every single one of them that he wanted.

I have seen lately that Transformers toys are returning on the market, but not at the stage they were when my brother was first in love with them. I am not aware if they have a new cartoon or not, but if the Transformers toys are making a comeback, there must be some way that children are getting interested. The toy will soon follow a popular cartoon or movie. You are almost guaranteed success in merchandise if you can get a cartoon made that kids will love.

You might want to get the older Transformers toys put away in the attic and give them to your kids. They will surely like your old toys, but you may still have to buy some of the latest models that you can find on the market if that is something they are into. You could also sell the old Transformers toys, if you don’t have children, to those who are now collecting them because they loved them as a child. There are always people out there who fondly remember something from their childhood, and they are looking to buy them somewhere and bring them back home for them of for their kids.

I love receiving my FamilyFun magazine. So packed with ideas especially for an unimaginative mom like me. I found this really cool. Smilebox and FamilyFun partnered to create online recipe cards. You can create your very own recipe pages, upload your own pictures, add music and email them to family and friends. I think you can also blog and print them. So fun.

Do your kids have a DVD player in your family vehicle?  Is it a lifesaver for you on long road trips.  Whether your vehicle came with an in-house player or you purchased a portable you may be one of the millions of families who enjoy this family entertainer.

Not long ago my friends and I took a group of our kids to the zoo about two hours away.  It was wonderful to turn around and see 6 happy faces as they watched a fun movie on the DVD player. It sure helped from having to answer, “Are we there yet?” every 2 minutes of this two hour trip.  Plus, on the way home, they all zonked out after just a few minutes of another movie.

My husband and I also use this as a treat for my son, helping to reward him for good behavior in a restaurant.  If he doesn’t behave in the restaurant he can’t watch his movie on the way home.  So, it can be a great tool to use with your kids.

Whichever way you choose to use this great gadget, having a family entertainer or DVD player can be beneficial to the whole family.

I tell you; they seem to be able to come up with better and better technology on a daily basis.  My younger brother has this cool tech gadget, a DVD Recorder, and we, as a family just love it.  He’s able to not only create DVDs of our home videos but also make copies for everyone in the family.  He’s even been able to make a little sideline cash by creating wedding DVDs and such for others.

photo credit: William Hook

This DVD Recorder allows him to create his own DVDs and /or make copies.  Of course, there are copyright laws out there that prohibit him from legally making copies of DVDs that we buy, but creating his own is more fun anyway.  He seems to think so too.  He gave me a great DVD of pictures of my kids complete with background music for Christmas this year.  What a special gift, all because of the power of technology and this awesome gadget.

Aren’t these so cute? From Aqua Leisure, a whole range of kid sized exercise machines. There’s the treadmill, an exercise bike and a glider like one of those gazelles. Makes me wish we had a room to dedicate to a gym. How fun would it be to exercise with your kids? I’m already thinking family spinning classes but that’s probably wishful thinking.

According to Readers Digest - where I read about this - kids get bored with it like we do and the equipment becomes yet another piece of furniture.

My girls love doing Step with me. Maybe we should just find some bargain Step on ebay or something.