Reviews by LovingDahlias

LovingDahlias says "Children find educational insight on their own with this toy" about LeapFrog Word Whammer Fridge Phonics set

LovingDahlias — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:46:57 GMT

We have Leapfrog Word Whammer as well as the individual single letter Leapfrog fridge magnetic toy on our fridge. Our first son loved the original but this is even better! Our preschooler and 2-year-old are always playing with it and entertaining themselves while I'm getting things ready in the kitchen. In addition to games that help your child learn how to spell three-letter words, this also teaches the alphabet and plays spelling games with them. The voice is always encouraging and it isn't one of those 'annoying' toys with sound. All the pieces are heavy-duty plastic and if you were looking for magnetic fridge letters anyway, you may as well just get this set because you can do even more with the letters. You can also buy more letters separately if you want to recreate words off of the toy (ie. just on the fridge door). Very colorful and durable. I know it's durable because it has been dropped and thrown with no evidence of trauma. lol Good price is about $10 on sale. ...

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LovingDahlias says "A great educational games solution for ages 3-8" about LeapFrog Leapster L Max Handheld Learning Game System

LovingDahlias — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:40:38 GMT

We have two boys who each have the Leapster L-Max. Honestly, I thought there would be a huge benefit of the L-Max vs. the regular Leapster but there was no real difference. When put on a tv screen the graphics are signicantly more digital-looking but since our 4 and 6-year-olds don't know the difference in graphics quality they enjoy playing on the tv screen or hooked up to the DVD player screen in our minivan. Most of the time they are just playing the games on the actual handheld Leapster though. Definately buy the recharging adapter so you aren't wasting money on batteries. We take our rechargers everywhere we go. We bought a recharger with each Leapster but looking back, I would only buy one to share because they recharge quickly. The games are all age-appropriate within the scope of about 3 to 8-years. Although, our 2-year-old often plays the drawing games and others that are meant for 3-4 year olds. Many different popular character games (Wall-e, Dora, etc.). ...

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LovingDahlias says "Handy for quick clean up" about Swiffer Sweeper®

LovingDahlias — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:33:17 GMT

The Swiffer seems like a simple enough concept that makes me wonder who is making all the money off something so "easy" to think of. I've had a Swiffer for about 5 years and have been impressed with the dust/dirt it picks up. It (obviously) doesn't pick up chunks of dirt but it picks up ever piece of lint and dust on your floor. The refills are expensive but I have tried the no-name version of them before and they're a totally different texture (and DON'T work) so you need to buy the Swiffer refills unless someone can tell me otherwise! The ones I tried were Walmart's version in Canada. I also use the Swiffer wet wipes when I want to clean my kitchen or bathroom floor a bit better than just dusting them. They can do a small sized room without drying out but don't last very long (ie. dry out too fast). On the dry Swiffer wipes, I often flip the dry wipe over half way our kitchen or flip it over to do the bathroom floor after the kitchen (so as to get more out of one...). ...

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LovingDahlias says "It's cheap for a reason" about CyberHome - CH-DVD 300S DVD Player

LovingDahlias — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:25:00 GMT

We bought this at either an after-Christmas or after-Thanksgiving sale for about $30. Trust me -- you get what you pay for in this case! Granted, we did use it for about 2 years but the headaches and hassle are not worth it. Just a month ago we ditched it for a Sony that is still on the lower price scale but not this cheap. My father-in-law bought one at the same time and his wouldn't play movies at all so I guess we got a better deal. It is very touchy - some movies it will play and others it won't (for no apparent reason; some are brand new with no scratches, etc.). It skips a lot or freezes on DVDs that may have some scratches but still play on better players. If your child has a tv in their room or if you have a play room where kids are going to be possibly knocking into a DVD player at least you know this one is cheaper to replace if it gets damaged. Otherwise, I would go with a mid-range priced DVD player to ensure it works appropriately.

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LovingDahlias says "Our favourite coffee maker with "perks"." about Mr. Coffee FTX251 12-Cup Coffee Maker

LovingDahlias — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:18:17 GMT

Our cheapy version coffee maker died a couple years ago so we were on the hunt for a new one. Since we had an amazon.com gift card to use we searched there for a replacement and found the Mr. Coffee FTX251 12-cup coffee maker at a decent price. It seems to us that it makes coffee faster than the older coffee maker we had. There is a clock and various options to select if you want your coffee to be made at a certain time, etc. Great for mornings when you don't want to get up extra early to make coffee. It's attractive - black and chrome-look. The clock is that low-glow green light at night. There is also a 2-hour automatic shut-off so you won't forget to turn it off (or at least you don't have to worry about forgetting to shut it off). We had one issue happen that we thought was detrimental but it turned out okay. I accidently knocked off the little latch behind the coffee pot (the one that stops the coffee from perking if you want to sneak a cup before it's done). The...

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LovingDahlias says "It's drying with more options and space." about Kenmore Elite Steam HE5 Dryer

LovingDahlias — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:10:56 GMT

We bought the Kenmore he5 dryer with a companion Kenmore front-loading washer two and a half years ago and I enjoy them both. Regarding the dryer, there are many options and temperatures to choose from. To save even more energy, you can opt to set the alarm to beep when the clothes are considered "damp" via internal sensors. I've used this in the summer or when drying sensitive materials that I don't want "completely dry". This dryer also has the added benefit of drying fabrics that aren't supposed to go in the dryer. It comes with a drying rack that you can set up inside the barrel (locks into place) and then set a very minimum temperature to circulate inside the dryer as it drys the item you have layed out on the drying rack. While this is a nice feature, you can't put much on the tray; one sweater or a few smaller items at best. I've never used the feature. You have to buy the under-storage drawer separate from the dryer. If you are stacking them, this isn't an issue...

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LovingDahlias says "Love doing laundry!" about Kenmore Washer - Front Load HE5T

LovingDahlias — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 20:03:20 GMT

We bought a Kenmore front-loading washer (HE5T) two and a half years ago. I never imagined I would spend that much on a washer but when we needed a new one, I really wanted a front-loader. At the time, we purchased the cranberry colour because it was a floor model and the sales person said we could have "extras" if we bought the set (washer and dryer) off the floor. We did (since we were looking for both a washer and a dryer). I was naive to think the bottom "drawer" came standard. If you want the drawers that make these taller and offer storage space, the drawers alone are about $250 each. I was glad they threw those in for free. We were also given this flat topper that went across the bottom of both the washer and dryer (as they sit side by side). I believe that is usually an extra $250. If we had the height-space and a main floor laundry, I would absolutely love to stack these two to save some room. However, as it is now, we have them in our basement that isn't tall...

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LovingDahlias says "A quick picker-upper for the kitchen/bathroom." about Bissell 3-in-1 Stick Vacuum

LovingDahlias — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:19:12 GMT

I first saw this at Walmart during their day-after Thanksgiving sale two years ago. I bought two and left one in our bathroom and one for our kitchen. I can't tell you how awesome it is to have this handy and small-ish vacuum to just pull out as-needed for easy jobs on hard-wood and linoleum floors. We have young children in our house and there are always crumbs falling on the floor at lunch, dinner, etc. A swiffer doesn't pick that stuff up but this does. My husband cuts our boys' hair and having a second Bissell 3-in-1 stick vacuum in the bathroom upstairs keeps our floors much neater (and has my husband cleaning up more too since it is so convenient and lightweight). A friend of mine bought one to use at her cottage since it has the tightwoven carpeting. This would not work on carpet (unless you consider it a dustbuster to get into corners). Hard wood flooring and linoleum are your best bet. I would only use this in addition to a regular vacuum. It's intended to be...

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LovingDahlias says "A must-have for the kitchen." about KitchenAid Hand Blender

LovingDahlias — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:11:17 GMT

We owned a Kitchenaid counter top blender/mixer for a few years when I can upon the Kitchenaid hand blender at an amazing sale price. My husband is always making big breakfasts for us on the weekend and to take out the counter top mixer to make french toast batter, mix the perfect blend for scrambled eggs, waffle mix, etc was just too much effort. With counter space that we need to make the most of, this was a perfect companion to the larger mixer. After the first year, the motor went on it but since it was still under warranty, Kitchenaid sent us a new one that continues to work great. If you are buying one, buy it brand new just in case something happens to it, so you will have the warranty to replace it. It could have been a fluke that it stopped working but just to be on the safe side.... I'm still not sure why the first one stopped working. It crushes ice and has made great smoothies as well. Frozen berries and ice cubes are no obstacle for this hand-held blender. ...

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LovingDahlias says "Kitchenaid is the go-to brand in small appliances." about KitchenAid Kitchenaid Artisan 5-Quart

LovingDahlias — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:04:19 GMT

I had wanted a Kitchenaid mixer/blender for several years when I finally saw a good sale at Amazon.com on the Artisan version (5-quart bowl) and bought one. I've loved it for the past 4 years and it has made baking/cooking so much easier and less time-consuming. I love to bake and this has just been the extra set of hands I needed. It's not loud; just about what you would expect of a counter-top mixer. I got rid of my breadmaker, thinking this would work just as well, but the bread mixer attachment doesn't do the equivalent job of kneading so don't bank on that. The whisk and regular mixing attachment both do a great job. I also purchased the pasta making attachment separately and that has made making pasta completely enjoyable for even our children to aid in the kitchen. Who wouldn't want homemade pasta at a fraction of the effort? I've had friends say that the ice cream attachment makes great homemade ice cream too but I haven't tried that out. In my opinion, any Kitchenaid...

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