Growing Smalls: August 2018

Wednesday

BBQ Bash Game Bundle Giveaway from FunSparks

It's Giveaway time!

FunSparks is hosting a giveaway so ONE lucky winner will win a whole package with all the products that we've reviewed for them so far! This is a great little BBQ Bash Game Bundle and all goes to one person!

This huge package includes the following;

Jazzminton, Paddle Catch, Easy Disk, Lawn Darts, Switch Ball, Bluetooth Speaker &

LED Balloons. (See affiliate links below)

We had so much fun with all these games the last BBQ we attended! And now we get to share them with you! Leave us a comment and tell us which game you want to win the most!

Read our full Game review here:CLICK HERE

Speaker Review:
CLICK HERE

LED Balloon Review: CLICK HERE

Make sure you head over to their site to check out all the fun things they have to offer and redeem their coupon code for 15% off all products on Amazon

Enter Coupon Code 15QMJJHV at checkout - Valid till September 22. 2018

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BackRoadMomma is not responsible for prize shipment. Please read our full Giveaway Disclosure here. CLICK HERE BackRoadMomma.com may share affiliate links in which we may earn a small commission from your purchase. This is at no additional cost to you and allows us to bring you great reviews and giveaways. Contest is open to US Residents only

Sunday

Homemade Washing Soda

Ingredients
Baking Soda

Instructions
1. Fill a wide baking dish with baking soda.
2. Use a fork or other utensil to break any clumps if needed.
2. Heat in the oven at 400 degrees until all the baking soda becomes washing soda. Occasionally mix it so that this process happens faster and more uniformly.
3. Use as needed!

1 ingredient. 1 step SUPER EASY!

This process for the picture above took a little over 2 hours to complete because I had it layered thick on the pan. Most detergent recipes only call for a cup or two of washing soda, (wish I had remembered that before this batch). Do yourself a favor and make in "thinner" batches.

The difference between baking soda and washing soda is water and carbon dioxide. Seriously. Baking soda's chemical makeup is NaHCO3 (1 sodium, 1 hydrogen, one carbon, and 3 oxygen molecules). Washing soda's chemical makeup is Na2CO3 (2 sodium, 1 carbon, and 3 oxygen molecules).

When baking soda is heated up to high temperatures, it breaks down to become washing soda, water steam, and carbon dioxide.

Most recipes only call for small amounts of washing soda, so rather than buying a large box you can take the baking soda you already have and make it as needed.

Washing soda is great for Home made laundry soap.

So how do you know if your baking soda became washing soda? Baking soda and washing soda look different, feel different, and taste different. If you make your own washing soda, you'll be able to tell in an instant which baking soda has become washing soda and which has not yet.

But if you don't believe me that you'll know immediately, the differences between the two are this: Washing soda is grainy, baking soda is powdery.
Washing soda is dull and opaque, baking soda is crystalized like salt and reflects light, i.e. it is semi shiny.
Washing soda is separate grains, baking soda clumps together.

Tuesday

TownleyGirl for our not so girly girl

Maison and Layla will celebrate their birthday's next month and that has encouraged me to do a little window shopping online. This year, I'm setting a goal to have little gifts for all the kids to take home, and endless activities for them to do while there here. I figure, if I can keep all the kids entertained, with enough different activities, maybe just maybe.... the adults can have some peace. Wishful thinking right?

So I've been browsing online and looking for everything from party favors, to outdoor activities. I came across TownleyGirl which has a little bit of everything we need for a successful day. TownleyGirl offers party favors, (everything from Incredibles to Emoji), make up and nail art kits, (that should keep the little girls busy for a little while) and even Play-Doh Body wash. Who comes up with this stuff? How neat!! Wouldn't it be cool to set up a table of girly things for the little stinkers to dig into?

Now let me explain that, Layla.... is not a girly girl. Layla enjoys sleeping outside, hunting wild animals, and swimming. Oh boy does she love swimming. But when she came home from her moms last week with sweet little watermelons painted on her fingernails I was in shock that she actually let someone paint her nails. Good job Mom! So to find make up, nail polish, and all those "girly" things that she actually likes is kinda a task. Last week, I found an Emoji hair bow and kinda shrugged it off to her secretly hoping she would want to wear it with one of her new emoji shirts. When she said yes, I was secretly jumping with joy inside!

TownleyGirl is actually perfect for our not so girly girl! Check out this Incredibles 2 Lip Balm and Mirror set they sent her. This cute little set came with 2 lip balms, a sheet of super cool nail stickers, and this Incredibles 2 hand mirror.

The shimmery lip balms came in two flavors; rose bubble gum and purple grape. And although the grape is PURPLE it's not a tinting purple which makes both these lip balms perfect for her to throw in her pencil bag at school so she always has them.

The nail art and the mirror are perfect for the "girls table". I'll throw a little clear gloss out there with those nail stickers and the girls can have at it! The mirror, although plastic, seems like it will hold up against our little monsters, ummm I mean, sweet princess angels.

TownleyGirl also sent us their bling bling townleygirl pen and a folder. Layla can always use another folder and since this one is so thick and sturdy it will be perfect for those extra papers from 3rd grade. And what's a folder without a matching pen. Every little girl needs some "diamonds" in her life!

Check out TownleyGirl and all their neat products at the following links. They even offer gift cards!

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We received one or more of the products mentioned above in exchange for an honest and non-biased review. While we have been compensated for our review with the product, our reviews our own opinion based on our personal experience and realize our experiences may be different than our readers. This page may contain affiliate links in which we receive a small compensation for your purchases. This allows us to continue to offer you our services.

Monday

Our Monthly Pet Treater Box

The whole house get's excited when we see this bright green Pet Treater box arrive! Just look at our fur babies so eagerly waiting for me to take pictures so they can did in! Short of locking them back in the house to take pictures, I couldn't get them to back up long enough to get any good shots. And sticking them back inside for a review that involves them just didn't seem fair. So we went with it!

What's Pet Treater? Every month, we receive high quality toys, treats, and essentials for our fur babies through a simple Pet Treater subscription. It's super easy to sign up, personalized for your pet, and you receive 6-8 pet products in your box for $24.99.

Pet Treater has proven itself to be one of our favorite subscription boxes and the value of the products we have received always exceeds the cost of the box. Plus Pet Treater saves us time by having our treats & toys sent right to the house.

This month was no different! All three of our fur babies found something in the Pet Treater box for them.

Of course we have to talk about the treats first... Tally and Moxie really enjoyed the Pur Luv Dental sticks. They didn't smell too bad either. As soon as I pulled out one of the large dental sticks they took them and ran! Little stinkers.... Tally even turned her butt to me so I couldn't get a great picture...

Exclusively Dog Fido’s Food Truck- These were a cute little treat, super small about the size of a thumb nail, made from chickpea flour and potato flour with bacon flavor. Kit Kat tried climbing in the box as soon as I got it open. Now let me remind you, the box is very simular to those that carry animal crackers with the circus design? So imagine my kitty trying to climb into this little box...

Also included in the treats was the Bowser Beer. Of course Jeramiah thought it was real flavored beer for dogs.... Teenagers some days, I think they've lost all their common sense! Actually Tally really enjoyed the Bowser Beer, which hers was the chicken flavored drink for dogs. *No real alcohol is consumed by our pets.

Of course Kit Kat had to check out the Pur Luv Large Dental sticks but they were too big for her. We choose to have our box fit Tally's need and she is classified as a large dog. Besides this box wasn't for the nosey cat anyways! Both Tally and Moxie took their Dental sticks and ran! Like we were gonna steal them back.... Silly dogs, I guess they didn't want to share.

Each month so far, we have also received a Cookie from Emmy’s Gourmet Canine Creations. They are always so cute decorated with a seasonal design and I really love the fact that Pet Treater has paired up with this sweet small company and their fresh treats.

I usually split the cookie up between Tally and Moxie and they both always enjoy it.

GNC Dog Essentials Insect Repellent Wipes are based on essential oils to prevent flea and tick bites. Each of the pets get a good wipe down with these every couple of days and we have noticed a decline in the amount of ticks we're pulling off Moxie. She loves the woods and the woods love her but so do the bugs....

Alright, now how about a little fun! The Pet Treater toys we have received so far have all stood up against the test of time. We even have one from a few months ago that our pig still tosses around. It's a little dirty but still in great shape! So we weren't surprised to find two more heavy duty toys in our Pet Treater box this month.

The Bow Wow Pet Cool Penguin toy is cute enough the boys tried giving it to Baby Kolton... Oh my goodness... That was a quick diversion and a "your baby brother is not a puppy" speech.... But it is cute and the squeaker isn't too annoying as it's a little quieter than most. This will be a good toy for Tally and Moxie.

That pink ball above is the PetProjekt Dogbal which didn't come with any packaging but is pretty self explanatory right? It's a dog... for dogs.... Our's don't really play fetch that much, mainly because I think their too lazy so this Dogbal will take a visit to the neighbors German Shepard who loves playing fetch and is still pretty much a puppy. I'll let you know later how it holds up against that chewing fur baby.

Pet Treater did it again! We love them and how much they love us!

Check them out at all the following links;

Website Facebook Twitter Instagram

#pettreater #pettreaterbox #monthlydogbox

Grilling after dark?

It's hard to believe the days are already getting shorter... And with shorter days, seems to mean more running and evening activities. Football camp began this morning and the first day of school is next week! Where did this summer go? I ask myself that a lot as it seems there's never enough time in the day.

Well here it was again almost 9 at night. Hubby and I had ran kids around all day but actually had an evening to ourselves. Well, with Baby Kolton of course! But Kolton doesn't mind if Mommy and Daddy wait until almost 9 at night to eat because by that point, hes usually asleep.

If you've become familiar with us by now, you will notice Hubby likes to grill a lot! I for one definately don't mind! I mean who could argue with not heating the house up and him cooking instead of me? It's great! But like this weekend, sometimes it just gets late and that makes it hard to see the grill.

Cave Tools sent us this BBQ Grill light last week and we were really excited to put it to the test and with these late nights approaching on us, I know we'll be getting a lot of use out of it!

This BBQ Light from Cave Tools was super easy to put together and install on the grill. The batteries are secured in a screwed compartment but don't worry they include a tiny screw driver, just not the batteries. *bummer The light is adjustable and the clamp stays put on the side of the grill with just a turn of the knob. Then of course, check out these super bright 10 LED bulbs. They light up our entire grill with no problem!

The easy swivel head also allows us to move the light and point it towards the table or where we're preparing to put the meat on or off the grill. Which is really handy.

But... Do you wanna know my favorite feature? We now have a built in light on our BBQ grill that easily pivets and turns.... right? I turned that sucker straight up or up towards the house and now I have another light outside that's not going to magically walk off when the boys need it.

The Cave Tools BBQ Light is a great feature to your outside living. We spend so much time outside, I know we're gonna get a lot of use out of this handy thing.

Be sure to check out Cave Tools and all their products at the following links;
Amazon Cave Tools Website

Get 15% off with code: BBQLIGHT15

Cave Tool Facts:
DURABLE; Lite It Up is waterproof, fireproof ABS is heat resistant up to 520 degrees so this one will last longer out there. 360 rotation angle to make sure the light is where you need it to be. 50,000 hour rated LEDs means you can use grill light every day without worrying about the life of the bulb.

LIFETIME SATISFACTION GUARANTEED; if at any point you are not pleased with your grill light you may return for a full refund. Customer satisfaction is always Our #1priority.

A little reading outside is good for the soul

Just as it always does, summer is slipping away from us. But I actually think that I'm ok with that. As the temperatures are cooling down just a bit, we're able to spend more quality time outside. I welcome fall that's for sure! The extra time outside has been letting me get so many projects done that I can't wait to share with all of you!

One thing I've finally got to do is settle down with The Study Bible for Women BH Publishing.Of course I'm not getting through this almost 2000 page Study Bible in a couple of days or even months but I figured I would go ahead and share what I've found so far so you can also enjoy a couple of peaceful mornings on the porch engaged in the word of God. (if that's your thing of course)

This Study Bible is actually pretty impressive. The tuquoise and sand colored hard back is really pretty and offers a great presentation if you were to give this as a gift. I've been so dissapointed lately with the quality of some hardback books that I was really surprised at how nice, sturdy, and durable this one seems to be.

Right out of the box, I didn't really know what to expect. Here's this 2000 page book which can be totally overwhelming and I'm thinking what have I got myself into... But even the first few pages offer some self discovery and throughout the entire book, the pages are bright, colorful, and very engaging.

There's over 6,000 extensive study notes that really help you follow along and offer great interpretation. In addition to the burst of color throughout the book, The Study Bible also offers full colored maps for guidance through the lessons.

I've got a long ways to go before I've even made a dent in this Study Bible for Women, but I welcome the task! This is a great asset for self discovery and scripture.

Be sure to check out The Study Bible for Women on Amazon here!