Rubik's World Review

Today I want to share with you my review of Rubik's World for the Nintendo DS by Game Factory. If there hasn't been a previous game worthy enough for you to get your very own DS, I can tell you that Rubik's World will be that one. I haven't really had the time or the energy to play any games (even my Brain Age or Wii Fit), however I am now making the time to play Rubik's World.

I first was drawn in by the creative storyline in Rubik's World. They piece apart the Rubik's Cube and each piece is called a "cubie" and cubie's have their own lives. Cubie's are fun, interesting, colorful, and want to learn new things.

This game offers two modes of play, Single Player and Multiplayer. Yes, it even has multiplayer! I have not had the chance to test that mode out because I do not know someone else with a DS, however I do know there are 3 games that can be played with someone else.

In Single Player mode, there are 8 different games with hundreds of different levels of play. I have barely gotten through 6 of the games, because they are just so addicting I keep wanting to play the same ones over and over.

My favorite game is where Rubik's World actually walks you through how to complete a Rubik's Cube! It shows you each move needed, all the possible combinations, etc to complete a Rubik's Cube. For some reason, I can never get the very last 2 cubes, but I will not give up and keep trying. Check out my video review *coming soon* where I show you this part. I am in the process of trying to locate my real Rubik's Cube to give these moves a test in real life. (I'll let you all know if that ever happens and how it goes.)

All levels of Rubik's World actually walk you through what you are supposed to do, which I love. I hate trying to play a puzzle game and I can never figure out what I need to do to finish it.

My son even loves to play this game... I think it is more about the music for him, but the motions of the little cubies makes him laugh too. I often have to play after he goes to bed or nap otherwise I am stuck fighting him for my DS back.

Have you tried this game or are you wanting to try it? Let us know in the comments below.

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Trip Tuesday ~ Toting Toddlers

Well, not just toddlers... a toddler and an infant, newborn infant... ack. What were we thinking? LOL

Just kidding, it really was not all that bad. My daughter was a perfect angel, much more than we could have ever hoped for. And my son was just as darling as ever, until he missed his nap time. We ended up having to put him in the back of the stroller and cover it with a blanket so he could nap. The poor thing was so tuckered out from all the running around..

Oh, but I didn't even tell you what we did. LOL. First we took the train (or "T") into Boston. Then we walked about 6 blocks to the New England Aquarium. My son loves fish, but the Aquarium was not his favorite. Being 16 months old, the arena was a bit overwhelming for him. A lot of kids his age running around plus the animal sounds and huge glass windows with ginormous fish behind them... yeah he was overwhelmed to say the least. But we were glad we took him, because he did love it and there were quite a few "Ooo"s and "Woah"s from him. (Pretty much the only speech he really knows right now.)

After that we walked another 6 blocks back towards the train station and then over the bridge to the Boston Children's Museum. Now this was something he was able to get really into. He ran around to every single exhibit, play place, and poster board. We spent a total of 3 hours there. Here are a few pictures of the highlights of yesterday:




More pics can be seen on my MySpace page here.

What is Me2Everyone?

Have you heard of Me2Everyone lately? I hadn't either... I came across it randomly while surfing the web (my passion nowadays), and was intrigued at the concept. A virtual world, similar to Second Life, where members get real world shares for FREE....!! Huh?

Yeah, well skeptical, but none the less still interested I did a quick Google search for "Me2Everyone scam" and what did I come up with? Nothing! Well, nothing bad anyways. The only bad talk about it was things like 'Sounds like a scam' and 'They want your email to spam you.'

Oh boy, spam mail really kills you right? LOL. I already have a billion spam emails set up for my Cash Crate "work" anyways. So, what does it bother me any...

Alright, so why not? As long as I guard my information, don't give them any unnecessary and important info like my SS# or credit card # then I will be all set.

So, let's register... Name, Email, Choose a Password, Recommender ID (person that referred you), and verification word (to show I am a real person). Then I read through the paragraph at the bottom (not really fine print because it was normal sized)...

Thank you! We only need this basic information for now. When you complete registration and sign-in you will be able to read what's happening during pre-launch and also start to recommend your friends. Everyone who becomes a member of me2everyone.com will also become a shareholder. You will be entitled to dividends and also to sell your shares to anyone who wants to buy them. You give us your permission to email you and we confirm all your details will remain private. We hate spam as much as you. Please also remember that if you spam, place illegal advertisements, register anyone without their express permission, register under an alternate name or register yourself more than once in an attempt to gain multiple bonus shares we reserve the right to cancel your membership and your shares. me2everyone launches soon and you are about to become part of something that by December 2012 will have more than 100,000,000 members.

Pretty straight forward, and yes they mention... No spam. Click.

Here I was waiting for a page to enter bank information or another such page that you have been roped into a scam. But nope there was none. You had to click through many pages to confirm that your referrer was correct, which I was kind of annoyed by that. But I guess they just want to be sure you are a real person and that you are sure you want to give this person credit for you becoming part of the Me2Everyone community.

And that's it... the main site has not launched yet, so right now everyone is still getting in on the ground floor. Are they over reaching and hyping up the site's potential? Possibly, but it's FREE, so what do I care. I am in and I will be waiting to see what the site is like once it launches. I also ask that you join me by clicking here. This way when it does launch we can check it out together.... I heard that we can have board meetings, sell shares, buy shares, all sorts of real world things, and some that are not 100% business/finance related!

And there is much, much talk right now about how this site will be a big potential online money earner. So, why not get in now and earn as many shares as you can before the site even launches? Then if you don't want to stick with it, then you can simply sell your shares for real world $$. Sounds great to me.

Hello

Something incredible has arrived!

I just became a shareholder in me2everyone and I never had to pay a single penny for the shares! It can only be described as the gold-rush for 2009. This company is going to be huge and shares will soar in value over the coming months! You can register for free and it never has to cost you a single penny!

me2everyone is going to be a cool new virtual world where you can meet friends, chat, shop, play, watch videos, create an art gallery, open a virtual newspaper, play the free inworld lottery and make money from your own online store! You and everyone you know make the decisions, shape the world, create real incomes and share in the profits. It’s a new place where you meet new people or invite your friends. Learn new skills or expand your business. Find the love of your life or help the planet.

Membership is free and every member automatically becomes a shareholder in me2everyone Limited. Personally I have 250 shares just for joining in the venture and I am going to increase my shares very soon. This is an excellent chance for all of us to make some real progress in 2009 and beyond! Please do not miss it.

If you are looking for something really good in 2009: something that changes your view on the world, then you really have to spend just one minute and look at this website.

ME2EVERYONE

What are your feelings on this site?

10 Tips to Help You Get Started Earning Money Online Fast with Cash Crate

Yes, it's true. I finally cracked last night and began using Cash Crate to make some money online. I was reading an article on Work At Home Mom Revolution which directed me to Frugal Dad's post for Side Hustles To Keep Your Family Finances Afloat. He has some really great ideas, but some that would not work for me right now. However I grew more curious about other information he gave out on his blog and ended up stumbling across this post about Cash Crate being legit and how much he actually earned himself! He even included a photo of his last check for $203.22!

[For my loyal readers and friends, please click on one of my banners or visit Cash Crate.com if you are interested in joining Cash Crate for yourself. That would help me out greatly. Much appreciated :) ]

I know I had tried doing Cash Crate years ago, however I ended up not making it to the minimum (which was $10) and just became bored of the whole task. Now the minimum payout is up to $20, but I am still going to test it out.

Mostly because Frugal Dad included some helpful tips on how to get started with Cash Crate to earn money in your first month, and then I also did some research and found many other helpful hints, tips, and tricks to help you earn money the fastest using Cash Crate and with only an hour of commitment a day!

Here is a summary of the tips I have discovered, and am using myself:

1. Create a "spam" email account. Instead of using any email account that you actually look at, I suggest creating a free one that you supply to the offers. Supposedly you can use a different email address than the one you specify to Cash Crate, I'm still not sure on that. So, I created one that everything Cash Crate is directed to. I used Gmail to do so, and I applied a filter to all Cash Crate incoming emails to be forwarded to an email I do check since those are the only emails I will care to read.
   
2. Create a "spam" voice mail number. Yes, I was stoked to find this tip. Go to simplevoicebox.com or grandcentral.com (I used Simple Voice Box), and you can set up a free number that you can direct the offers to instead of one of your personal real phone numbers. The number is simply a voice mailbox that you customize, and can check (if you want). Voila. No spam phone calls!
3. Sign up for the Do Not Call list. I had already done a few offers before I found the tip about a free number, so I placed the number I was using onto the Do Not Call list in hopes that these offers will be deterred.
4. Do NOT use a fake address when completing offers. You are required by Cash Crate to provide each offer with valid information, therefore if you give a fake address you may get deleted by Cash Crate or not credited your money. Also, all the information you provide to Cash Crate directly when registering should be accurate, because they send you real checks. Giving them a false name or address will make it impossible to receive and cash these checks.
   
5. Complete the 100% free offers. After registering, go to the “Complete Offers” menu, select “100% Free” from the “Show:” drop down menu filter. These surveys don’t pay as much, but they are typically shorter and do not require a credit card to participate. These are the only offers I am going to complete. Also, sort them by 'Rating' instead of by 'Payout', because you will receive credit for the money earned from those with higher ratings faster.
   
6. Download and use Robo Form. This quick, easy, and free program installs a toolbar in your web browser, and it allows you to save profile information for things like surveys. Then with the click of a button, Robo Form will fill in required information as you have specified. Check out this video I found that shows you how to get started with Cash Crate, and has a little tid bit about Robo Form.
7. Clear your cookies before and after each offer. This will allow you to do the multiple offers, and will make it easier for Cash Crate to confirm your offers quicker. Thus changing your pending money into earned money faster! In FireFox or Flock, you can do this by going to "Tools", "Clear Private Data...", and then unselect all the boxes and only check the one for "Cookies." Then click "Clear Private Data Now."
8. Hit "No" to any and all of the special offers. You do have to submit your information to the first form as indicated by Cash Crate. However after that there will be literally dozens of "special offers" that pop up on many screens after (I don't mean pop ups). This is the most time consuming part of the whole process, and this is where Robo Form comes in handy a great deal. Even if it pops up saying you must say 'yes' to at least one offer, say 'yes' and then on the next page look for a "Skip" or "No thanks" and select that. Do NOT submit your information to any other offers except the first one required by Cash Crate. For help understanding what I am talking about, check out the video I mentioned earlier and around minute 4:00 he actually walks you through completing an offer.
9. You can hit Alt-= to fill in all NO's. When you have a page where there is a list of offers and you have to select 'yes' or 'no' to all of them (always choose no, and yes for only one if required), simply hold down Alt and hit the = key and this will fill in all the No's for you. ;) Pretty cool, huh?
10. On the final page, click on at least 2 offers, let the pages load, and then you're done. At the end of nearly every survey will be a page saying something like "Final Steps: Please complete at least 2 of the offers below." Simply click on two of the offers (usually pictures linking to the site), and let the pages load completely to make them think you visited there. Then close out of all the windows/tabs until you are back at the Cash Crate offers menu. Find the offer you just completed, and hit submit. Once it shows a banner saying it was submitted, clear your cookies like I said in #7. Voila, one offer done and pending. (Also, once you delete your cookies, you will be logged out of Cash Crate, kind of a pain, but simply reload the page and log back in. If you have Robo Form installed, it will save your log in info for you.)

Currently I have $6.30 earned in my Cash Crate account and $24.15 pending, and that was only from signing up late last night. Also, this is the first of the month, so I have 27 more days to earn at least $13.70! I have high hopes that I will be receiving a check around March 15th. LOL. 

Do you use Cash Crate? Did you have a good experience or a bad experience? If you have any other tips or tricks, please share below. Did you find one of my tips helpful? If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, feel free to post a comment below or email me at mel [dot] bail [dot] mama [at] gmail [dot] com.

Baby Chaleco ~ Chic Baby Bibs

I was fortunate to be chosen to review one of the prized waterproof baby bibs from BabyChaleco.com. When I received my Baby Chaleco, I was thrilled with the stylish and fancy material used. It is paired so eloquently with the whimsical 'car into the tunnel' design, which by the way, that tunnel is a pocket. Not 100% functional for many things, but my son likes to find things himself, so I invented a fun game by hiding his spoon in there and he would try to do the same.

You could also stuff a wet nap in there for when they are finished eating to wipe down the baby's face. I know my son can never sit still while eating (especially at parties), so I would have to chase him all over, then pick him up, find my diaper bag, and struggle to get a wipe and wipe his face down. Having this simple little pocket saves me much running around.

The Baby Chaleco features an absorbent, poly-cotton blend on top, and a 100% nylon liner underneath. So, all the drool will get absorbed into the material and stay there without soaking the baby's clothes underneath.

Personally, I not only go through clothes like no one else, but also bibs, because my son will drool right through the bib and onto his clothes. I can never just put him in a cute outfit and have it stay that way for long. Or I have to cover that outfit up with a possibly, but most often not, matching bib. And let's face it, family parties/events always seem to happen right when baby is in the peak of cutting a tooth.

But let's be honest moms out there, after the age of 6 months, there are no outfits that you can buy in stores with matching bibs. Why is it only cute for an infant that can't even sit up to have a bib and outfit set? Plus those bibs are just for fashion, and barely large enough to cover their necks.

Other bibs with this same waterproof concept that I have found in stores are usually pull over kinds with no snaps or velcro. However the problem with those is that they are never snug enough to the neck and my son will drool underneath the bib anyways. So, they are just pointless. Also, my son tends to pull on bibs of any style, however with the Baby Chaleco it was just like another shirt. He didn't even realize he was wearing a bib, so he left it alone as if I had put a vest or sweater on him.

The Baby Chaleco's fit very snuggly (but not too snuggly lol) around the baby's neck with an easy-to-snap two button enclosure over one shoulder. This makes getting the bib on and off very easy because the neck and arm hole open to one wider opening. It also makes the bib what I would like to call "pull-proof." This feature also helps when the baby is done eating and covered in whatever he was eating, because you can lift it straight off of him instead of pulling it over his head, which usually causes food to get stuck in the hair or on the forehead.

The Baby Chaleco is very chic and stylish looking, and as long as my son is wearing blue/black jeans, khakis, or blue/black sweatpants (which is just about all the options he has), this bib matches all his outfits. The shirt matching is not at all an issue, because it wraps competely around him covering his entire shirt. The velvet material in back is a very fancy touch. I was able to show my son's new baby bib off at a recent family party for a very wealthy relative, and everyone was in awe at the style and craftiness of this bib. Well, that was after I told them it was a bib. They thought it looked like a little vest, but that's because it does! I can even leave him in the bib while he is running around and no one can tell the difference. He looks just as good as ever.

You would never know that he is wearing a baby bib it looks so good. I recommend this stylish baby bib for any mom with toddlers, because it is stylish yet affordable. And it will save you loads of hassle time during family parties.

Do you have a Baby Chaleco? What do you love about yours?
If not, would you want one? Why?
Visit their website to enter to win your very own Baby Chaleco.

Red Robin Rant

Yes, just as the title says, I am going to rant. So, if you don't want to hear it, then look away now.

Today was supposed to be a relaxing day, the day after Christmas, even though our house has become a complete disarray of toy confetti. Grandma even took our oldest for the night, so it was just Hubby, Babe, and I. We were out shopping at WalMart (with our new giftcards *wink wink*), and decided on the way home to stop at Red Robin instead of cooking when we got home.

Upon arriving at the Blackstone Valley Shoppes (where the nearest Red Robin to us is located), we noticed a lot of traffic. So, as we were heading up the quarry, we decided to call ahead and check the wait time. The guy that answered the phone said 15 minutes, so we were game. We parked not so close, because we in no way expected to get lucky and walked a few minutes to the restaurant.

When we got inside, we noticed that it was extremely packed, which is not usual for the times we visit. We walked up to the host at the counter and he took our name. We asked how long the wait would be for "us" (he already knew we were 2 adults and a 1 year old who needs a highchair), and he replied 15 minutes. Same time as when we called. Ok, still game.

We stood (yes stood, no one was nice enough to give up their seats to a pregnant woman holding a wiggly toddler) and waited. Hubs played a few crane games, and baby danced around in the light for a bit then stared at the TV they have in the floor.

Here is the part that sucks: After about 20 minutes, we started noticing a few parties that had gotten there after us were already getting seated. One group of about 4 teens came in and got seated immediately, and the couple near us noticed that it seemed they were buddy-buddy with the hosts. I went over and checked how many names were in front of ours and asked the lady how much longer she thought it would take. There were only 5 names and she said it would only take 10 minutes more (she too knew we had a highchair requirement). A few minutes later, she even turned to us and said that they were cleaning off our table right now (and she indicated the very first table closest to the front).

I watched as the guy leisurely wiped the table a few times, and then proceeded back up to the kiosk and called a few more groups. Then he would go back, wipe a few more times, and then again call a few more groups. I went right up to the lady and asked her what was taking so long (they had already skipped our name 8 times!), and her response was that because of the highchair they can only put us so many places. I said to her, 'I thought you said that was our table right there. Why is it taking him so long to clean it off?'

Right at that same time, another host was noticing that the table was clear and proceeded to ask her who was next. (Yes, while I was in the middle of talking.) Anyways, she haphazardly apologized and brushed us off, while the host that was occasionally clearing our table finally grabbed our menus and seated us. Yes, we were livid at this point, and asked for a comment card. Hubs immediately took out his pen and furiously recalled the event in as few words as he could muster, because of the limited space available.

I demanded that hubby remember that it is not the waitress, and we should not treat her like it was her fault.

Speaking of which, Ashley was the perfect gem of a waitress. She came right over, took our order, brought us our drinks in 2 minutes, and our food was out in 5 minutes! And I am not exaggerating. A few miscommunications on the order, however I take the blame for that and she even offered to correct it for me. For such a busy night, she was really on top of her game the whole way.

At the end of our meal, which was excellent as always, hubs asked her to whom we should give the comment card to. We reassured her it was nothing about her, and she (being very concerned about our experience) asked if there was anything she could do and what it was about. Hubby, of course, graciously told her every detail about what peeved him the most about getting seated tonight. She apologized again and again, agreed at our anger, and offered to get the manager.

When the manager, Brett, came over, he was just as darling as Ashley. He listened to our story, agreed with our concerns, and he even remembered us from our twice monthly visits with our little peanut (the gorgeous blue eyes give us away). He asked if there was anything he could do to make our night better, and wanted to right all the wrongs in our eyes from the night. Hubs said something along the lines of, 'Your food and service are usually always the best, and I crave your food all the time. But tonight makes me almost not want to come back ever.' Brett immediately said, 'Well, we would love to have you guys back, and I am sorry about this ruining your experience. I have even personally taken care of your check for you.'

Can I just say, I love him. LOL. We do go there very often with my son, and just the experience of watching these hosts and hostesses completely disregarding the fact that we have a very impatient one year old ticked us off. I even noticed at one point, the hostess blew up a balloon from a machine they have sitting right there, and give it to a 20-something year old that was one her friends from the party seated way ahead of us (when they came in after us). Ok, now why would you blow up a balloon for an adult, when I was holding (or trying to) a squirming toddler for an hour?!

Argh... *breathe* I was much happier after talking to Brett. He even told us that the next time we come in, to make sure they let him know so that he can personally check on our experience. He reassured us that once the place calmed down he would talk with his hosts and hostesses and correct them. (He joked that he would have loved to do so while it was busy, but that would hve just been mean.)

Later as we were leaving, I joked with hubby that I should have told Brett to make Sean (the host that occasionally cleaned our table and seated us when he felt like it) clean up our table. LOL. With a 1 year old tossing food everywhere, that is always a treat for punishment.

Long story short: Food and waitstaff = excellent!!! Hosts and hostesses = SUCK!