November is bringing new things!

Ready to start a new month ! We are! We will be continuing  our subscription box reviews but we also have really cool things lined up for November and also a few giveaways!! (woo hoo free stuff right?!!)  We are looking for more readers and new Facebook fans as well so be watching for our random giveaways because we are thankful for each and every one of our readers and fans! 

Do you Monster?

Busy moms like myself and many others love doing craft projects and activities with our minis!  However finding the time to piece together everything you need for the craft in advance is sometimes impossible am I right?  When I started putting together different boxes for review I came across M is for Monster and I was impressed!  What is M is for Monster? I will be happy to tell you! 

M is for Monster Pre-k and Toddler boxes $32.95/month (they have combo packs if you want to buy more than one month at a time!) Have more than one Goofy Goober?! They do additional boxes at $26.95
Direct from their website:
M is for Monster is weekly educational activities that are delivered right to your door every month! No need to sit and plan and go shopping for the materials, everything you need for one months worth of activities will be shipped right to your front door!
What’s in a monster box? Each month will be different. You will get four weekly themes with 2 to 3 projects for each theme. You will also get the glue, crayons, markers, paint and all the other supplies needed for that month.

Ready to see whats in the November box?! (First I must tell you that I was EXTREMELY excited to get this box! I had seen spoilers of previous boxes from M is for Monster and I automatically knew I wanted it! )  

When you open the box you see this!  (okay it looked much better but in my excitement I opened it before I took the photo so I resealed it!)

This is everything that was inside this months box!

A closer look via collage:

 I must must say this box is PACKED, with FUN activities oh and have I mentioned yet their educational activities?!!!   It even came with a book! Oh My, Pumpkin Pie!

Inside each box is an instruction sheet.  It explains how to do each activity and which week it is for as well! 

Seriously that right there makes life a bit easier too! I mean the works done for you, all you do is sit down with your Goofy Goobers and help them LEARN while having FUN! 

(side note: While I was setting up photos my Goofy Goober pair came up and started doing the activity they were so excited!! )

 This activity was find the missing letter in the sequence!  A HUGE hit for both of them! 

Okay so do I think the quality/value ratio is right on this box? YES!!!!   As a homeschooling mom of 3 Goofy Goobers its hard to find the time to piece together FUN activities so something that delivers educational games to my doorstep is a HUGE winner!       The materials felt really nice.  Most are printed on card stock, so they don't feel 'cheap'  again a plus! 

Learning is always more fun when its in a game style format, especially for little kids.  The fact that they got to play with putting the alphabet in the correct order today, and then play with shapes to make a scarecrow face as well, made it fun for them.  I don't think either really understood they were learning and not just having fun! 

So final thoughts  on a scale from 1-10 (1 being do NOT buy and 10 being RUN and buy) this box gets a 10!

Seriously its hard to be perfect, so I will not say this box is perfect by any means, but it looks like M is for Monster will great addition to our line up!  If you want to try them out for yourself using the code new2monster will get you 10% off your first order! 

Pros:  Everything you need is delivered right to your door in a box.  An entire months worth of educational activities just shows up!  A surprise in every box for your Goofy Goober!! 

Cons:  The only con I have is that the age doesn't go very high!  If they had a box that carried through elementary school too that would be amazing! However I wont let that deter me from keeping our subscription to this box! 

Next up on our mini series of subscription box reviews is Citrus Lane! I bought our 3 year old and 3 month old each a subscription to try out! Citrus Lane is a very popular subscription box service, known by most parents at this point! Each month they send you age appropriate toys to play with and samples to try out! Win win right?! Lets see! 

Citrus Lane $25 month 

(again they do have multi-month packages as well see their website for those prices!)

Forgive me for not taking a photo of the closed box, looking back that would have been a good photo to have snapped before my Goobers colored on them! However, this is what was inside each box!

Let me give you a break down box by box!

3 year old girl box

1 Episencial BabyTime Playful Wash full sized sample!

1 Alexander Girard Color book $12.78 (Amazon)

1 happytot Super toddler bar $4.20 (Amazon)

1 Julep brand nail polish $11.00 (Amazon)

1 Fancy Prancy Dancer Doll $13.95 (Amazon)

3 month old boy box

1 Skip*Hop Chime ball $9.00 (Amazon)

1 Julep brand nail polish $11.00 (Amazon)

1 Episencial BabyTime Playful Wash sample

1 Charley Harpers 123s $7.99 (Amazon)

1 twin pack sample of Dr. Smiths Diaper Rash Ointment

My review!

I thought for what I paid for each box ( I used a coupon, and paid $12.50 for 1 and the normal $25 for the other) I got a good deal!  In fact, I only canceled this subscription to see what other companies similar to Citrus Lane offered before making my final choice on which to keep!  Everything was natural products which again is a huge bonus especially with kiddos! The Playful Wash is chemical and sulfate free and made from mostly organic and all natural ingredients, I used it for our Goofy Goobers bath that night (one entire tube to be exact) and they liked everything about it except that it didn't make a lot of bubbles.  The Julep nail polish is is "4-free" and does not contain formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, or DBP.   Which is an added bonus for mom I think. The board books were very much modern art books.  Each is very colorful which helps keep mini Goobers attention, again added bonus! Our 3 yr old Goober was so excited to see a doll in her box, nothing else mattered except that doll to her! 

So final thoughts on a scale of 1-10 (1 being do NOT buy and 10 being RUN and buy) I give Citrus Lane an 8.

Pros: Age appropriate boxes.  If you have an advanced child it may be best to raise the age of the box your signing up for!  Some toys and products in the box may seem too simple so just a heads up on that one!  This months box was natural products which again in this house is always a very welcomed thing!

Cons: At $25/month it may seem pricey to some parents.  Its a choice to make if you decide to subscribe to Citrus Lane.  Some months may be better than others like any other monthly box service, however I feel it may be work the risk to get a monthly 'treat' in the mail for your Goofy Goober. 

The quality/value ratio for this box was really good.  Each Goober are enjoying their toys still today.  The fact that all this was pieced together and just mailed right to my door was very nice! I would have spent much more having driven to the store to buy all the items! At $25/month it may be pricey for some, but I plan to cut out that much a month someplace else if we continue again with Citrus Lane.

Next up is the Conscious Box

So tonight I will be continuing our line up of subscription box reviews!  I hope you enjoyed the review on Cotton Booty!   Ready for this one we hope so! Buckle up it will be a wild ride through our Conscious Box review! 

Conscious Box
 $19.95/monthly (have the choice of Classic, Vegan or Gluten free)

Straight from their website:

Hi there. Meet Conscious Box!

Imagine a world where it's easy to understand what you're buying. A world where you don't have to worry about genetically modified ingredients, toxic chemicals in your foods, or unethical business practices. Making this better world a reality is at the heart of what Conscious Box does. People should be able to find healthier, more ethical products, and it shouldn't be harder or more expensive. This is truly conscious consumption

• Each month, discover 10-20 products right at your doorstep. From snacks to household products to beauty essentials and more, every box makes it easy to experience the purest, most ethical, natural, and organic products on the planet.

• We never include GMOs, highly processed foods, or products with unsustainable manufacturing or production.

• With Vegan and Gluten-Free options, customizing your box and making sure you get the products that suit you best is simple!

Here is how the box looked when I received it in the mail! Minus our cute Halloween crafty ghost *wink*! 

I was impressed with the look and excited to finally get to open the box!! I have been waiting for this box to get here forever now it seems! 

Once I opened the box this is what I saw:

My excitement at this point was building and I wanted to dive right in this box!

 The entire contents of this months (October) box: 

1 0.53 oz bag of OrganicaSaurus Cheddar Cheese baked corn snack

1 BioBag dog poop bag

1 Sample pack of Fruits Max (whole foods Supplement, your daily dose of fruit in 1 chewable)

1 Sample of Allimax 100% Allicin

1 gnuFoods Fiber Love fiber bar in Banana Walnut  

1 Sample of Crum Creek mini breadsticks

1 .2 oz Sample of Goddess Garden Organics Grapefruit Bergamont Daily Lotion Broad Spectrum SPF 15

1 .5 fl oz LifeTree Dish Soap sample

1 Twin pack sample of seventh generation body lotion and skin serum

1 Sample of Eat Green Tea (Edible Green Tea)

1 Bottle Bright tablet (cleans water bottles)

1 Acure Cleansing Gel Facial Cleanser sample pod

1 Lotus Moon vitamin b hydrating gel sample pod

1 0.13 fl oz The Honest Co. honest shampoo+body wash sample

and then coupon codes to a few of the products websites

Here are my thoughts!

Was this worth $19.95?! To me, absolutely NOT.  I was very much let down with this box! I was mainly excited to try this box because one of our Goofy Goobers is on a specific lifestyle due to health reasons.  As in she needs all the natural products we as Goober parents can find for her!  Now please do not get me wrong, this box is FULL of samples, however in person they are tiny samples!  The corn snacks sample tasted like stale Cheetos again a let down, no one here has tried the fiber bar sample yet though! 

So I guess overall my opinion would be value to box isn't there for me to want to keep my subscription (I promptly canceled after unpacking this box) This is just my personal opinion on the box, but I really feel there isn't $19.95 worth of product inside this box, if there is I must be a serious cheapo! 

Final thoughts on a scale of 1-10 (1 being do NOT buy and 10 being RUN out and buy) I give this box a 2

Overall I wish I would have loved this box but I just can not bring myself to continue or renew my subscription on this box.

Pros: The only pro to this box would be you do get a lot of SMALL samples to try out 

Cons: You only get SMALL samples to try out!  Some of the samples are one time use, if that samples.  Most sub boxes have bigger sample sizes of lotions etc, this one isn't one of those. 

Cotton Booty Subscription Box

Alright the wait is over! It is time to start knocking these subscription box reviews out of the park! First in the line up is a cloth diaper subscription 'box' service from Cotton Booty!  I am going to be honest here (the entire point of my blog!) If you read the About Me section you know I am a cloth diapering mommy.  I am a 'fluff' snob at times with my style of diapers I prefer to use! However even those using disposable diapers can be picky about which brands they like best right?!  

Batter up here we go! Cotton Booty $24.99/month 

Straight from Cotton Booty :

"Cotton Booty is a monthly cloth diaper subscription service. Each month you will receive one name brand cloth diaper, sample(s) and a fun item. It’s like getting a present in your mailbox every month! We will ship you the latest styles that are top rated from moms around the world. Whether you are a newbie or a veteran cloth diaperer you are sure to discover something new!"  

Cotton Booty charges $24.99/a month with free shipping! They offer monthly bundled prices too (you can see their website for those pricing!)  I was very excited when I reached out to them for about reviewing one of their monthly boxes and they agreed to send us one to review for all you Goofy Goober fans!  

Here is what I got in the mail!  I won't lie I was expecting a 'box' so I was a bit confused that it came in a poly mailer! (This okay though as I know they are much cheaper to mail than a box would be!)

After I excitedly ripped open the bag I was surprised to find this! Cotton Booty " Goodnight Sleep Tight" Box!  (Each month they use a name for the box that corresponds to what type of items are inside the box!)

Inside the "Goodnight Sleep Tight" Box for a boy was:

 1 Kawaii Goodnight Heavy Wetter OS (One Size) diaper

1 Angel Dear Muslin Swaddle

1 Sample of Wash with Water, Star is Born Massage Cream

and then a piece of paper telling you about each item!

Lemme tell you thoughts on each item individually first, before I make a final overall statement on this subscription. 

My FAVORITE part of this box by FAR was the Angel Dear Muslin Swaddle!  Its a 47" x 47" 100% natural cotton muslin swaddle.  This Goofy Goober mommy is a muslin swaddle snob! I am in love with very few brands of muslin swaddles, Angel Dear is one of my favorites!  They sent me the 'boy' box for review purposes and the swaddles was blue and green owls now to me this is not very boyish in person.  Do not get me wrong they are plenty cute, however I learned the gender neutral boxes received Angel Dear swaddles in Elephant Train print! To me, that says boy and this says gender neutral! However this may just be my own personal opinion on the matter! None the less the owls are still very cute! 

Value: $16.00 (Amazon)

The Wash with Water A Star is Born Baby Massage Cream is a certified organic massage cream! It has Organic Aloe, Calendula, Organic Lavender, Organic Shea among many other ingredients that are natural.  You will not find these in this cream: Petrochemicals, Phthalates, Sulfates, Parabens, Synthetic Coloring, Synthetic fragrances, TEA, DEA, silicons, PEGS, Dairy, Nuts, Gluten, Soy, Egg, Oat, Citrus seed extract, GMOs, Triclosan or Synthetic dyes!  (phew! if I can't say a word without looking up its definition, then I personally will not buy or use it on my Goofy Goobers!)

I enjoyed trying out this sample! I had not heard of the company before, and it really left my littlest Goobers skin silky soft! It wasn't greasy or sticky like a bunch of massage creams are and it didn't upset his sensitive skin either! Two HUGE bonus points to this cream in my opinion right there! I will be buying more of this cream for sure! 

So now that leaves us with the actual diaper portion of the box. The Kawaii Goodnight Heavy Wetter OS diaper is said to have extra protection against leaking because it has a featured 3 layer outer shell and comes with 2 large microfiber inserts.  Its supposed to fit babies 8-36lbs.  I say "supposed" because OS diapers never really fit weight limits like they say as not all babies are shaped the same, nor do they all weigh the same! 

Value: $15.95 (Amazon)

Here is where my own personal opinions may hinder this objective review.  I personally feel Kawaii diapers are for lack of a better word 'Chinese cheapies'.  This brand is a hit or miss, you either love it or you don't.  Its a pocket style diaper, so you have to stuff the inserts in the back pouch each use, nothing wrong with that! In fact, lots of people love this diaper for their overnight diaper! I agree with a few other reviewers on this particular months box in the sense that this diaper is a HUGE let down from past months (from what I've heard).   I have not used this diaper, but I will hold on to it until I need a heavy wetter, nighttime type diaper as my Goofy Goober isn't sleeping long enough at a time to need something like this yet.  

Overall review:

The Cotton Booty box was okay! I feel the value of what was received exceeded the monthly charge for the box! After receiving this box for review I went ahead and subscribed to the box!  I look forward to seeing what each new month will bring in the mail with it!  The company is semi-ly new and did not expect to grow as fast as it has, so I will ride out the bumps with them to see where this goes! It may very well lead to something fantastic!  Head on over to their Facebook page too!  If you've tried this box, or are going to now leave a comment with how you liked it! 

Final thoughts on a scale from 1-10 (1 being do NOT buy and 10 being RUN and buy) I give this box an 8!

Pros:  If you want to try new things out for cloth diapering then this is a good box to start out with! You can even sign up while your still expecting (or gift a subscription to an expectant mom) to build your/their stash up!  You do get a variety of items, not a lot, but it won't ever be the same thing!

Cons:  The con with a box like this is you may not always LOVE what is inside, its a risk you take with subscription boxes though.  (Do not let that factor deter you from trying this box if you're interested!)

**Disclosure while I was given this box to review, my thoughts on it are entirely my own and not influenced by anyone other than me and my Goofy Goobers!** 

Game day yummies!

Sunday for most means game day!  This Goofy Goober mister is a football fan which means ' do not touch the remote today' any one else have this issue on Sundays?!     
Just thought I'd drop in to give you a link to YUMMY jalapeno bacon poppers! These are a HUGE hit in our house!  What is your game day snack go to?!! 
http://www.averagebetty.com/recipes/hoffepeno-jalapeno-poppers-recipe/

Also reminding you all of our giveaway going on on our Facebook page! Seriously head on over and read how to enter or read a few posts down to find out too!! Fun times I tell ya!!   Tomorrow starts our Subscription Box reviews!! We are very excited to be doing these!

Facebook contest details!!!

ATTENTION ALL YOU GOOFY GOOBER FANS there is a CONTEST going on on our Facebook page!!! You must "like" and be a Facebook fan of ours to participate... so go like us, we are really nice we promise!

We are hosting our FIRST ever GIVEAWAY right here on our Facebook page!!   

FAN FAVORITE PUMPKIN PHOTO CONTEST! Email us a photo of your carved or painted pumpkin from this year! - see rules for email and information needed for submission-

* Winner will receive a $15.00 Amazon e-gift card! (not donated, coming straight from this Goofy Goobers wallet!)*

 The winning photo is the photo with the MOST "LIKES" Which means you have to invite your friends to come 'Like' us on Facebook and then they need to 'Like' your photo! You have until 10 PM EST on FRIDAY OCTOBER 24, 2013 to email us a photo of your pumpkin! (email is in the rules!) I will then upload ALL received photos with their titles (see rules) into a special album on our Facebook page!

VOTING WILL BEGIN SATURDAY OCTOBER 25, 2013 AND WILL END 10 PM EST on THURSDAY OCTOBER 31, 2013 (Halloween!!) Winner will be announced on FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1st, 2013. 

 

Here are the RULES:

* Please email a photo to threegoofygoobers@gmail.com 

     - Photos MUST include a date card (index card with the date) next to your pumpkin!

      (this will help us try to control your REAL pumpkins from  the people who may be dishonest :( sad to say,            but true!)

      *IF YOUR PHOTO DOES NOT INCLUDE THIS IT WILL NOT BE A VALID ENTRY*

     - Please include a TITLE to your photo as this will be put in the photos description instead of your name!  Be          creative!! 

     - ONE (1) photo per person! I know some of you probably do multiple pumpkins (like we do) so either group            them together, or choose your best for the photo!

*  Pumpkins may be CARVED OR PAINTED! 

*  Photos will be uploaded to a special album on here on by 11 pm EST on October 24, 2013

*  You must invite your friends to come "LIKE" BOTH this page AND your photo!          

(this is the really important part as the winner is the photo with the most "likes", so don't forget!)

Hmmm... Do you like FREE money?!

Okay so, to draw in more Goofy Goober Facebook Fans and blog readers,we are doing a Halloween photo contest on our Facebook page!!Its our first ever contest so be WATCHING for it!! We are finalizing everything tonight (you know, when the Goofy Goobers here go to bed and all is calm in the world again! ha ha) and we will begin taking submissions tomorrow October 12, 2013.... So be sure to LIKE us (hint hint!!!)So you know what to do to participate! Winner will receive a $10 Amazon E-Gift Card!Here is our Facebook page link if you still need it https://www.facebook.com/pages/Three-Little-Goofy-Goobers/656206941079657     SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS (again HINT, HINT, NUDGE, NUDGE, WINK, WINK) Have a amazing Friday night you guys!! 

Are you a zombie parent dealing with colic?

I have been so lucky (knocking on wood) that none of my Goofy Goobers have had colic!  However, my youngest Goofy Goober has an extremely sensitive stomach and milk, soy protein intolerance as well.  So, finding a bottle that helps eliminate ANY and ALL excess air to help him out in any way has been my mission lately!  I have tried others geared towards gas/colic issues...I won't name names or point fingers, but the parts and pieces are hard to clean on those! The one we've used most often with our little Goober is from Similac.. if you read about it, its got love and hate reviews.  We haven't had the issues most of described but I am finding it is no longer my 'go to' bottle!

I contacted tommee tippee and they were happy to donate two (2) tommee tippee closer to nature anti-colic bottles for this review!! (Kudos to them right!)  I am very excited to give you all my review on these bottles! 

Ready or not here...we... go!!!!

    

Introducing the tommee tippee closer to nature added comfort anti-colic bottle!  

In the package it looks like a normal tommee tippee bottle, right?! We've all seen those in stores.  However once you open the package you can clearly see the insides of this bottle.

I took it all apart and this is what is left!

And of course this is what it looks like when its filled with formula! 

This formula photo is JUST after I got done shaking the bottle, and as you can see there are clearly very few bubbles left in the formula!

Okay enough photos, let me get to the review!

Here are my thoughts on this bottle: For a 5fl oz bottle its rather stubby (ha!) however, that is the trend with tommee tippee bottles so nothing to be concerned about for me!   I adore that it comes with a cleaning brush, which makes this mommy VERY happy.  Add that to the fact that once you mix the formula there are little to NO air bubbles left for your Goober to swallow and to me you've got an A+ bottle!

PROS:  The wand in the middle, and the 'wheel' as they call it at the top under the nipple virtually eliminate any and all air bubbles!  To me, if you're suffering from a colic prone child, or your child is overly gassy this bottle may be a solution for you! Its a small bottle, as in its short! It IS a wide bottle, but that doesnt bother me! Our Goofy Goober is just starting to try to hold his bottle so this has been helpful to him!

CONS:  One of my pros could be one of your cons, which would be its size!  Like I said, the fact its short and stubby doesn't bother me, but if you like your bottles tall and lean this probably isn't the bottle for you!  Other than that I do not have more cons! (yet.. I will edit this later after many many uses to see if I still am in love with everything on this bottle!) 

So as always on a scale of 1-10 (1 being do NOT buy and 10 being RUN and buy) I would rate this a 9!  If you have a Goofy Goober at home who is suffering from gas or colic why not try it and see if it works for you!