Review

Review: Service Pals- educating children about the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines #militaryfamilies

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Did you know April is Month of the Military Child?

Service Pals

About:

To review, I received a set of four books about Service Pals- the “Sidekicks of America’s Heroes.” Air Force Reserve pilot Maj. Johnathan Edmonds developed the concept of Service Pals when he couldn’t find any books to explain to his daughter in a happy light what he does in the military. The majority of books written for military kids are deployment-related (this is true-I’ve looked myself). When Edmonds couldn’t find what he was looking for, he created it himself. The characters of each book -military vehicles- have adventures and journeys, but deployment and combat is not mentioned.

Click on photos to enlarge:
Our Experiences:

Baby J loves these books. They’re very colorful, and I think that appeals to him the most. He keeps “stealing” them and dragging them into the kitchen (I don’t know why that particular room).

Reading Service Pals

I love these books as well. I’ll go into that in a minute. I do have one cautionary note. These books don’t seem to be built for babies or very young children. What I mean is, they’re not made with fabric or a cardboard type of paper, etc. They will tear, and these books are so lovely, that’s the last thing I want to happen. I read these books to Baby J, but then I make sure to keep them high on one of our book shelves, out of his reach, the rest of the time. When he’s older and more responsible, he can have them back. I want them to last.

Edmonds plans to write more books, including one for the Coast Guard. I think that’s a great idea, and I really hope he does. I’d buy subsequent books for our kids, especially if they were about the Navy. As I mentioned in the beginning of this review, I’ve looked for military books for kids and the vast majority are deployment related. There’s a definite reason for that, and I’m happy that type of book exists. When J leaves next year, and again, and again, deployment-related books may help Baby J and me cope. But for all the rest of the time, books like Service Pals fill the void. I have yet to see anything quite like them out there. Finally, although I think these books are perfect for military children, civilians would find them very educational too.

The Scoop:

Each book retails for $14.95 or buy the entire set for $50. To purchase and learn more, visit MyServicePals.com. You can also check them out on Facebook and Twitter. Readers of My Life: A Work in Progress can save 20% on their purchases through May 15! Just use the code MYLIFE when checking out. 

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Note: I received complimentary products to facilitate this review. The opinions expressed above are my own and may differ from the opinions of others.

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life, parenting

Because children serve too: Month of the Military Child

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While working in Army Reserve public affairs, I often photographed military kids at different events. I’d type up photo captions, write articles, and go about by my duties, but I never really just took a moment to think, really think about what military kids experience. The unfortunate truth of the military is that you often have to put the mission before your family. It almost seems inherently wrong, but someone has to do it. Whether you agree with the current war, whether you agree with how budgets are spent, consider this: someone has to be ready to defend our country, to protect our people when threatened and attacked. In turn, the children of these men and women sacrifice a great deal. As a military wife, this now means more to me than in the past. My husband is gone this week, and it’s just for a few days, but I can already see my son missing him. I know that one day, not too far away, J is going to be gone for a very long time, and Baby J won’t be a baby anymore.

Since 1986, April has been known as the “Month of the Military Child.” Every year this month, the branches of the military and different organizations hold events and celebrations to honor military kids and their families. If you known a military child, I challenge you to reach out to him or her. Let the family know that you recognize their sacrifices, and that as a community, you are ready to stand by them in support.


Superhero Military Kids

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Review

Review: Picture Collage Maker for Mac

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Photo greeting cards and invitations have become increasingly popular in recent years. As the quality of home photo printers improves, many families now have the capability to print their own. I received a free download of Picture Collage Maker for Mac to review. Downloaded in just minutes from the app store, this program allows me to create collages, save them as images, print, email, etc.

About:

Picture Collage Maker for Mac (retail $19.99) has more than 130 templates available for various occasions and holidays. You can also edit an existing template to fit a different theme. For example, a baby template can be adjusted and turned into a birthday template. Existing templates include wedding, baby, birthday, April Fools’, New Year’s, Christmas, Valentine’s, anniversary, Mother’s Day, and calendar designs. Additional template packages are available at 9 designs for $1.99.

  • Customize and personalize your photos. 
  • Add clip art and text, and move around.
  • Resize, crop, and move images.
  • Add or remove photos.
  • Change photo frames.
My Experiences:

I’ve been using the app daily over the last week, mostly to make collages for blog posts. But I did make a collage of Baby J’s newborn pictures for the relatives. =) I saved it as a JPEG file, emailed it, and uploaded it to our shared Dropbox.

Picture Collage Maker

I found the program really easy to use. When you first download it, a video tutorial pops up, but I think most people can figure out the program without watching anything. Worst case scenario, there’s an undo button. 🙂 Our printer is kaput, so I haven’t tried printing any photos yet. I’ll have to update when I do. My public affairs experiences involved a great deal of design and layout as well as printing images. I’ve learned that the quality of the original image is important, but stretching or cropping a photo reduces its quality. These are things to keep in mind whenever working with photos you intend to print.

There is one thing that I think would make this app better. I’d like to see a font preview before I select the font and apply it to my text. Otherwise, I have to select and apply font after font, until I find a look I like. It’s a painstaking process, when I know there are easier ways out there.

I’ll be using this program to create Mother’s Day cards for both my mom and Hubby’s mother. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll print them or just email them, but either way- I’m sure they’ll be pleased. Moms love photos of their kids and grandkids, right?

Watch this quick video to see how to easily customize a greeting card with Picture Collage Maker for Mac:

Picture Collage Maker for Mac usually retails for $19.99, but is currently 30% off as a Mother’s Day sale. It’s a limited sale, so make your purchase soon!

Note: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

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