Monthly Archives: October 2008

Top 10 iPhone applications for parents

I rely on my iPhone for every day from setting up reminders, writing notes, sending & reading email to listening to and finding music and taking & sending photographs.

Here are my top 10 favorite iPhone applications that I (or my kids) use almost every day.  The prices and features of these Apps may change.

  1. Jott – Free. A really easy to use notepad that turns your voice recordings into notes and sends them to your email if you want.  Website, desktop, and iPhone sync available, free!
  2. Grocery Gadget Shopping List – $2.99.  Keep track of what you need, edit & delete items, and keep a running track of your total while shopping!  Popular grocery items are included but you can manually add and delete items as needed. I love this app.
  3. FLEX Photo Lab – Free.  A must have for parents.  If you take photographs with your iPhone, you have to download this app.  You can adjust the brightness, contrast, and saturation of your photographs and apply cool effects.
  4. Say Who Dialer – Free.  Don't dial and drive!  Just say a name in your contact book or a telephone number to connect your call.  You can create an auto-dial list and even nickname favorite numbers like 'pizza' or 'babysitter'.
  5. Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab – This is a really fun collection of 5 puzzle games.
  6. reMovem – Free and paid version available.  This is an addictive iPhone game.  All you do is remove blocks of colors to get points. The bigger the block of the same color, the more points you get.  When you clear the screen you get 200 bonus points.
  7. Preschool Adventure – .99.  Madelyn loves this game.   Toddlers will learn shapes, color, sounds, and matching with bright colors, and fun sounds.
  8. Shazam – Free.  This is a great app that will recognize any song and tell you what it is so you can buy it via iTunes. Just hold your iPhone up to your radio speaker and it will tell you what the name of the song is in about 10-12 seconds.
  9. Easy Relax – Free and paid version available.  High quality ambient and background noises to help you relax.  Easy Relax is great for using for yourself or your kids at bedtime.  The sounds are real and so relaxing! There are 7 preset relaxing sounds.
  10. Pandora – Free.  Pandora streams music right to your iPhone.  Create your own personalized music station that plays your favorite songs and artists.

My Meebas – a handheld game for 8+ girls

Mymeebas
This is a toy I would have loved to have had as a kid. My Meebas is a handheld game with cute little 'meeba's' that swim around on the screen, make cute sounds, and lead players on adventures (games).  The 20+ games take the player through 7 levels of evolution and when all levels are accomplished the tube opens and the player is presented with a pleasant plush surprise.

I wish the price was a bit lower and that the screen was full color, but for a toy that will occupy players for days it's worth it!  My Meebas are currently available in four tube colors. The handheld game tube has a sliding LCD screen with
three game play buttons that allow the player to see “inside” the game tube
and follow the progression of My Meebas™. The player helps it “grow” by
playing various games and activities. What's inside is a surprise making the game addictive until the tube pops open.

Available at Amazon.com: My Meebas

Cost: Approx. $22

Matchbox Pop Up 360° Haunted House Adventure Set

Matchboxhalloweenhouse_2
I have a hard time getting inspired to decorate for Halloween.  Getting costumes is enough.  In fact, Sebastian has worn the same costume for two or three years.. we just switch it up a little every year.

Lucky for the kids, inspiration came in the form of a Matchbox Pop Up 360° Haunted House Adventure Set this year. Watching them play with this toy helped me get motivated to do something different for Halloween this year.  Different = actually get involved in Halloween activities and show some Halloween spirit.  For example, Sebastian helped unload the local pumpkin patch’s delivery truck and I have put together what I think is going to be a super cute costume for Madelyn… before the day before Halloween!

The spooky sounds, moving parts, and characters including a ghost, knight, and a skeleton make the Matchbox Haunted House set fun to play with a lot and it folds up so the kids can toss it in the car and take it to Grandmother’s house to play with there.   I love the trap doors, and the ghost.  I put the ghost on my finger and Madelyn cracks up.  She’s easily amused.. sometimes.  The accessories fit nicely inside the house so they won’t get lost and the house has a carry handle for easy transportation.

Available at Amazon.com here: MATCHBOX Pop Up 360° Haunted House Adventure Set

Cost: Around $34

Crocs – Madelyn’s new favorite shoes

Crocscaymen
CrocsmadelyncaymanMadelyn has dozens of pairs of shoes.  Does she wear them all?  No.  She has her favorites.  She has favorites that she wears outside, in the car, and around the house.   One of her favorite pairs of shoes is her ‘kids cayman’ classic Crocs.  I love them because they are a breeze to wipe off, and Madelyn can get them on an off easily.. without a fuss.

It has been a little chilly outside lately so she slips on some socks, puts her crocs on and is on her way!  She’s determined to wear her favorite shoes no matter which pair it might be on a given day.  I’ve learned to not even try to get her to wear a pair other than what she picks out.  I choose my battles.

Click the photograph to the right to enlarge the image.  These, like most Crocs, are available in over two dozen colors and eight sizes.

Available at: Crocs
Cost: $24.99

Being Dad – An inspirational DVD for dads and moms-to-be.

BeingdaddvdBe informed & be inspired by Being Dad.  Being Dad, the only DVD of its kind, offers expecting Dads more information than any book can explain and best of all it’s all from a man’s point of view.  Featuring interviews with new dads from all over the country, and easy-to-understand advice from experts, this DVD is one that expecting dads won’t mind watching time and time again. In fact, expecting dads will find Being Dad exceptionally entertaining, relieving, a
nd maybe a little shocking at times.  Relieving some fears and possibly bringing on new fears, Being Dad is an honest walk-through experience of expecting and new dad’s lives.

I was shocked that the actual birth of a baby was shown on Being Dad.  I knew the birth of my two children wasn’t the most beautiful sight in the world, but I NEVER imaged that the birth of my children was anything like the jaw dropping, mind blowing ‘action’ I saw in this movie.  Tim confirmed that indeed the birth of my two children was exactly like what is shown in Being Dad.  You definitely don’t want your kids in the room during certain parts of the movie. 

Shorter and less painful than the average labour, Being Dad is an 80 minute-DVD that will take expecting Dads through a miriad of emotions from happy to sad to ‘holy cow, what’s happening to my wife’?

Available at: Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com

Price: Approximately $26.99