Looking for Baby Monitor Reviews?

Keera, Levana's Touch Panel Video Baby Monitor

With a Baby Monitor like the Keera, you can do more knowing your child is safe. The thing we'd do more of is get some sleep! Our babies were into co-sleeping. We never felt safe with them in the other room- if only we had this monitor! Keep reading this review to learn how you can WIN your own. Enjoy!

Keera, Levana's Touch Panel Video Baby Monitor.

We really wanted a video monitor. Not only does everyone here at Kids Creative Chaos have babies and small children, some of us have GRAND babies! Our little granddaughter often spends the night at our house. We wanted to feel secure knowing that she is safe and sound, not climbing out of her bed, and not getting squished by a big, fat cat.

But... there were other reasons we wanted a baby monitor...

Our 9 yr. old is very in to detective work. It has been her dream for the last 5 or so years to catch Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy in the act. Mommy wants to know what the cats do when we're gone. I mean, do they sleep all day or do they terrorize the house? AND, what do the cats do when they see the Tooth Fairy? 

You need special software to view your baby monitor videos on your computer. This helps keep them safer from hackers. We wanted to share the soothing music, so we took a video of our video! :) The pictures and videos are high quality, and make great family keepsakes when you download the software.

Full Disclosure: We'd also planned to use the camera to monitor the chicken coop at night, but after receiving this one for review, we quickly decided against that. This is a very NICE camera. Far too good for placement in the chicken coop!

Keera, Levana's Touch Panel Video Baby Monitor.

The Keera, Levana's 3.5" touch panel baby monitor has pan, tilt, and zoom. It can record video and take pictures while viewing the live performance on your monitor. The battery lasts up to 24 hrs. The monitor has a touch panel with simple icons that make selecting the features easy. You can do more knowing your child is safe. Imagine using it as a Nanny Cam while you have an older sibling babysit as you make a run to the store for bread and milk.

All Levana monitors are cordless, eliminating the risk of strangulation. You can keep the charging cords in another room or out of your babies reach.

• They know their stuff! Levana launched the first-ever wireless handheld baby monitor in 2002.
• The monitors are state of the art with invisible LED's and ClearVu Digital Wireless Technology (to protect from hackers).
• They are one of the first movement monitors ever introduced.
• Smart LED Indicator Ring
• Sound indicator ring changes color with the sound of your baby’s voice alerting you if she is crying out when you have the volume turned down and features adjustable sensitivity.

Pink - Disconnected

Blue – Whispers

Green – Murmurs

Yellow – Cooing

Orange – Chatter

Red – Yelling

Blah, blah... you want to know how we liked it? More importantly, you want to know how to score your own, right? Loved it. 

A Rafflecopter Giveaway for Keera

Recommended:

Baby Carrier and Slings 

Baby Play Ideas

Easy Nursery Decorating Ideas

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Levana. The opinions and text are all mine.

Have a Spooky Sleepover and Pajama Reading Party with Halloween Books from Scholastics

Have a Spooky Sleepover: Pajama Reading Party with Candy Corn S'mores Recipe

It's easy to plan a spooky sleepover with a Scholastics story and EVEREADY® Gold batteries in your flashlights! We decided to plan our spooky pajama party around fun Halloween books for kids! "We picked some fun spooky books and decided on a Candy Corn S'more Recipe as the perfect companion snack! There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Bat" by Jared Lee, "Splat the Cat" by Rob Scotton, and "Ten Timid Ghosts" by Jennifer O'Connell. Read on to learn more about the best sleepover ever!

*This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of EVEREADY®. The opinions and text are all mine. It contains affiliate links.

Have a pajama sleepover with spooky Scholastic Books and EVEREADY® Gold.

Spooky Book for early readers, Scholastics, Ten Timid Ghosts.

Before the party, we gathered supplies for our craft, snack, and pajama party tent. The kitchen nook worked best, because it has room for a large, family-size tent. We used the walls and bench to construct a tent from one of our favorite blankets. Mommy filled a basket with books, juice packs, popcorn, and flashlights. Then, we created some, super cute edible crafts- with a ghost theme of course. Candy Corn S'mores!

Candy Corn Smores Recipe: Make S'mores with candy corn and candy corn marshmallows.

For our Candy Corn S'mores recipe, we used graham crackers, candy corn marshmallows, candy corn, and chocolate chips to make our S'mores. They were the best S'mores we ever had! Messy, but delicious.

While our sleepover snacks were baking in the toaster oven, we started the spooky ghost craft. We used cheesecloth, Styrofoam cups, and buttons to make a Halloween Ghost craft.

Spooky ghosts from Styrofoam cups.

After reading the story, Mayhem wanted to make a bat too. So, we cut out a pattern that looks like the bat on the cover of the book. To make our bat you only need scissors, construction paper, and glue. If you want to make an outdoor Halloween decoration, before cutting, cover your paper with Duct Tape in coordinating colors. The duct tape will make a durable Halloween decoration for your door.

While we enjoyed reading stories to each other and making shadow puppets on the walls, we had some surprise guests! They wanted to hear about Splat the Cat, and they wanted to chase the lights from our EVEREADY® Flashlights!

Curious cats crash our pajama party!

Educational Element for Homeschooling

We wanted to count this experience as school, so we found a free printable story starter and Lesson Plans for, There Was an Old Lady, on Scholastic's website. From the list of lesson plans, we also chose to try the edible estimations. This is a fun math lesson for kids where you compare the things the old lady ate with similar weighing objects around the house or classroom and then calculate the grand total of everything she ate. The EVEREADY® website has free printables to help plan for a disaster.

Grab your favorite Scholastic books, and EVEREADY® flashlights and get reading! When you purchase 2 special marked packs of EVEREADY® Gold Batteries or EVEREADY® flashlights, you can redeem them for a free book. How fun is that?

It must be time to go to sleep, our guests are yawning!

Hey lady, don't shine that light in my eyes!
Where are my pajamas? Those stories made me sleepy!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of EVEREADY®. The opinions and text are all mine.


Recommended Reading:



There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat!


Splat the Cat Storybook Collection

Sergeant's Calming Collars for Cats

The Calming Collars from Sergeant's Helped Calm a Crazy Cat and Soothe a Stressed One

The Sergeant's Calming Collars really worked for our little furball. She is constantly scratching and rolling off tables and generally acting crazy, so when Mom it Forward contacted me about doing a compensated post for them I was excited!  Sergeants Facebook page, Pet Health Central is also going to have a sweepstakes when they reach 500K followers. Hop over, because they are really close. Like Sergeant's on Facebook.

This is sponsored content.

Fluffy Bunny wearing Sergeant's Calming Collar.  That's right, Fluffy Bunny!

Winter craft ideas for Kids: How to Make Snow for Pretend Sensory Play in Ice Age and Christmas Village

Make Fake Snow with Wax Paper

This winter craft idea for kids focuses on how to make snow for your Ice Age Dinosaurs. In this DIY, you'll use wax paper. Enjoy!

Ice Age creative play with Dinosaurs, Diego, and
wax paper snow activity for kids.

We've shared many sensory activities for kids, but this winter one is the cat's meow! So, I've been saving a a bag of snow since my Grandmother passed away.  I inherited it with a few pieces of her snow village.  A few years ago, I used store bought snow for my village, as I wasn't ready to use hers or risk losing it around the cats and little ones. This year, I pulled it out and dumped it around my village.  It was as remarkable as I remembered. Enjoy!

 Winter Preschool Activity

And then, it wasn't... 

The cat kept climbing in it spreading it all over the floor. During the holidays, I brushed it under the table to clean up later. Later came, I began carefully picking up the pieces preparing to place them in a baggie for next year, when somehow the glistening bits of fake snow appeared more familiar than I'd ever known. This wasn't fake snow at all.  It was tiny pieces of shredded wax paper!  I made a collage with snowy scenes around my house so you can see how natural it looks.

Make Fake Snow out of Wax Paper.

Ice Age Dinosaurs, Sensory Snow Play.

Grandma's fake wax paper snow village versus real snow
covered pine trees in the landscape.

Sneaky Grandma, surprising me from the grave. I hadn't realized she was so creative. One year, on my parents twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, she volunteered to get SILVER vases for the table centerpieces.  She brought them just before the guests arrived, and I was astonished to see plastic glasses of some sort wrapped in aluminium foil. Not her crafty-ist moment. It felt a little tacky for what I had planned, but certainly creative. 

And now, the snow.

What an easy project for your snow globes, snowman in a jar, I -spy Christmas ornaments, or just for an ordinary day of creative play with plastic animals or Legos.  We decided to play Ice Age with ours.  I'll save Grandmas, just thinking how she took the time to craft it makes me smile.

So, grab your wax paper.  Do not cut it. Tear it into tiny shreds and store in a Ziploc bag for your kiddos. So easy, so fun and perfect for SENSORY PLAY!  Thanks, Grandma!

What will you pretend?


Recommended Reading:

National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Dinosaurs (National Geographic Little Kids First Big Books)*

Dinosaurs! by Gail Gibbons*

ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

My Favorite Part of the Circus was the Cats. No, Not Lions and Tigers, I'm Talking Kitty Cats.

The Circus Cats have turned House Kitty

Circus Cats

Ringling's Amazing Animals

So, the Circus was cool with all of the typical animals, daredevils, and princesses. The clowns were silly, of course, and the dragon was exciting with his real smoke breath. I've been to other imitations recently, but this brand is the best. I captured the usual photos. What I couldn't capture a photo of, due to the incredible live action, was the domestic house cats. Kitty Cats. There were dog and pony shows that included goats, donkeys, and llamas in the three ring show of Amazing Animals.

My six-year-old kept begging me to look at the cute dog or "Mommy, look a llama, you love llamas." That I do, but I couldn't look away from the cats.

Girly Lions, Tigers, and an Awesome King of the Jungle.

Adorable cuddly, fuzzy cats climbed ladders, ran on balls, and jumped from amazing heights at the request of their trainer. Impressive, but not impossible to believe. I had a blind cat. If you put her up she had to get down. If she wanted up on a bunk bed, she'd climb the ladder or stand on the bottom bunk and grab the top bunk's rung to pull herself up. Cats do these things out of curiosity or necessity. 

What had me on the edge of my seat was... when the trainer opened the cat carrier, the little critters popped out with tails held high and pranced straight to the podium to start their act. I oohed. I ahhed. It happened every time. Not once did the cat get side-tracked or stop to sniff the ground. AMAZING.

Baby Elephant at the Circus.

The Circus elephants came in second. I'm sure you'll find much more to ooh and ahh about. The daredevils were crazy- that's good, right? I refused to clap. I can't applaud insanity :-)

Look for the Circus coming to your area ~ don't forget to take a picture of the Kittys for me. I couldn't find one anywhere. Maybe I only sought a saw a puddy tat.

Feld Entertainment provided the tickets for my unpartial review and giveaway.

Recommended Reading:

A Circus Wish (Magic Kitten)

Cat Hats

ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Ringling Bros. Barnum Bailey DRAGONS at Banker's Life Fieldhouse Circus Trivia

Circus Trivia Questions: Cute Dragon Clipart Printable

Do you like Trivia? How about Circus Trivia? The Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus comes to Banker's Life Fieldhouse every year. We visited in the year of Dragons. Before we went, we caught up on some Circus Trivia. Scroll down to see how much you know about the Circus. Enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.*

Circus Trivia Questions: Cute Dragon Clipart Printable.

Trivia Question from Previous Post:

So, how far away can a lion's roar be heard? 

Up to 5 Miles.

Click here for a DRAGON printable

RINGLING BROS. and BARNUM  and BAILEY DRAGONS

CIRCUS TRIVIA QUESTIONS

1) What four virtues are required to summon a dragon to Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey^® Circus?  
Answer: Strength, Courage, Wisdom and Heart.

2) How far away can a lion’s roar be heard?  
Answer:  5 miles away

3) Kung Fu movements are based on fighting tactics of what animals?  Answer:  Tiger, Snake and Dragon.

4) What Ringling Bros.^® animal has 4 teeth each weighing the same as a nine-pound bowling ball? Answer:  Asian Elephant.

5) What Ringling Bros. performer has an average shoe size of 28EEEEE?  Answer:  A Clown.

6) Shaolin Warriors performing in Ringling Bros. Presents DRAGONS practice how many hours a day?  
Answer:  7 hours a day.

7) What circus apparatus is most like a playground seesaw*?  Answer:  A Teeterboard.

8) What are considered BIG CATS?  
Answer:  Lions and Tigers.

9) How many bags of popcorn are consumed in each city that Ringling Bros. visits?  Answer:  Over 1,000 pounds of Popcorn.

10) What is the average span of a tiger’s swipe?  
Answer:  Five feet.

Recommended:

Glitter Dragon Head Pattern Printable

Circus Crafts

Circus History*





ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)

Meet our Mommy Bloggers

Welcome to Kid's Creative Chaos, a resource for Classroom curriculum, Mommy ideas, and Fun activities. We post crafts, activities, recipes, and our musings on life. We post the mishaps, the fails, and the messes. No Fancy Nancy here. Think of it as a Test Kitchen for Kiddie Crafts, Home Chefs, and Mommy Chaos. We want our readers to say, 'Hey, I can do that!' or 'That looks fun!' or  'Do you have any advice?'
If you are an aspiring writer or a novelist chat with us here or on Facebook or Blog Frog or join our group Historical Fiction Books to interact with fellow writers.

Meet our Mommy Bloggers:

Lora Langston, Marketing Director at The Play Connection, Inc. and Owner of Kids Creative Chaos blog.

Contact info: lora@theplayconnection.com

In the real world, Lora teaches art, sensory play, and drama classes to kids age 18 months to 18 years old at area parks, schools, and special events. The kids present programs to retirement villages and schools. She also writes YA Fiction. And, of course, Lora loves to CREATE.   Lora is now a full-time freelance blogger and social media marketing manager! A lot can happen in a year :)

In another life, Lora studied Architecture and Theatre at Ball State University where she also did the (Tri Sigma) sorority thing. Currently, she is a SAHM with two elementary age children, one  two indoor cat (s), one cockatiel, one box turtle, a tank load of two fish, and two inherited outdoor cats. 

Our Turtle got blessed at Church.

Recently, her family purchased a new home (she plans to name it Redbud Ranch) taken right out of the movie "Funny Farm" with Chevy Chase. Here, she will write from the window overlooking a Dogwood Tree, a row of Redbuds (her favorite tree), and a little pond full of fish while daydreaming of becoming an Andy Farmer-style, Martha Stewart. (Too young for the reference? Go watch the movie!) She also recommends the movie, "Stranger than Fiction", but only if you are a writing geek.

Angela Whitmire write recipes and Angie's Corner. She blogs about the active life of her outdoor and recreation loving family.

In the real world, Angie has two elementary age children, a couple of indoor cats, and keeps bunnies outdoors for 4H.

Tracey Thomas writes Tracey's Tempo. She blogs about her life with a large, blended-family, her passion for helping those in need through Santa's Elves of Indy, and fun activities for kids. Tracey has four children of her own and two step children.

In the real world, Tracey heads up Santa's Elves (a non-profit providing Christmas gifts to children in need), holds a Realtor's license, is an experienced photographer, and taxis her brood to sports and club activities.  http://www.santaselves.us/ In a past life, she headed up a Girl Scout Troop and ran an in-home Child-care. Tracey spends her spare time daydreaming of finding the time and resources for everything she needs to accomplish.

Life is crazy! Need some ideas to relax?  Grab a cup of coffee (okay, a soda) and stay awhile. We are always surfing for new crafty ideas that make life fun. And we love comments!  We'll check out your blog so be sure to leave a linky. Don't miss our updates be sure to subscribe to our posts on the right sidebar.


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Chocolate, Flowers, or Teddy Bears? My Postpartum Depression Pick Me Up

A few weeks after my first child was born, long after everyone else had gone back to their daily routines, I was left alone with fatigue and a mild-case of postpartum depression (post natal), one giant, smelly dog, two cats, one bird, and a bacteria infested exotic frog.  Oh... and a newborn baby, let's not forget the baby.  Everyone of those little lives needed something from me, and I needed sleep.

I didn't have enough energy to spread the love, clean the pet messes, and change the baby.  I was simply overcome by Bleh.  I knew I needed to be strong for the baby but the monotony of being alone with all of these creatures in a messy house for eight hours everyday had taken its toll.

One day, the doorbell rang.  Begrudgingly, I threw on my best hospital, maternity robe, slid on my fuzzy, pink slippers, threw the baby on my hip, and shuffled to the door. Standing on tippy toes, I snuck a peek through the peep hole. A bright-eyed, delivery girl with a broad smile peered over a huge arrangement of flowers.

With both hands wrapped around baby, I struggled to free one to open the door. Her contagious smile and bubbly personality brightened my grumpy, hermit-loving mood.  I became giddy as I signed for the flowers. The presentation was unique. Flowers were displayed in an earthenware container reminding me of the ancient ruins. 

I plopped my son into a baby bouncer and quickly cleared a place in the center of the mantle, out of reach from babies, birds, curious cats, and a dog who would eat anything. Then, I dropped to the couch and opened the card.  

"Thought you might need a pick me up about now."

Of course, I bawled like a little baby (remember I was postpartum). How did they know?  I barely knew the sender at the time - my father-in-law and step mother-in-law who live out of the country.

The special delivery came at the perfect time giving me a little pick-me-up to press on for the next few weeks.   Nothing is more heart-warming than knowing someone is thinking about you in your darkest moments.  

Why not surprise someone who is going through a rough patch.  

Seven years later, after a fall that rivaled Humpty Dumpty, the patched container sits on my mantle, looking more than ever like ancient ruins, holding my own arrangement of silks and reminding me of that special moment.

What is Postpartum depression learn more here.

My postpartum depression pick me up!

These are a few of MY favorite things: cute pictures for Pinterest

My Favorite things include adorable baby bunny picture and Christmas tree in snow

Not necessarily in any order, (I've been suffering from writer's and crafter's block lately, so if I have to organize them it will turn into the post that wasn't). My favorite things include baby bunnies, a spider, and Christmas Trees. Enjoy!

Christmas tree in snow with colored lights.

1. Snow covered Christmas Lights on Evergreen Trees. I LOVE how the light glows under the snow.

Can you smell the puppy breath?

2. Puppy Breath. 'Nuf said.

Book by Robert Kraus, How Spider Saved Halloween.

3.  Halloween! Inspired by my favorite book ever. I LOVE the illustrations. I love the story about bullying. Kraus writes several books in the Spider series. Check my pages above for more info.

Jake's journey in art started here.

4.  Inspired Art. My son comes from a line of artists, but art isn't his thing. He is a straight A+ student- except for an A- in art. When my daughter and I paint and craft, he plays computer games. The other day, he sat down and painted this portrait of Santa!  

He used the entire page. It is truly amazing - "A Kid's Perspective of Santa". His Uncle designed the characters and worked on 'Call of Duty' Black Ops for Activision (among other things).  

If the Presidency thing falls thru, I think he might just have a back-up plan. I  LOVE that it isn't just a picture of Santa in the middle of the paper.

Kitty paws.

5. Kitty Paws. Especially, touching my chin.

Hot Air Balloons.

6. Hot Air Balloons. Here is a local Balloon Voyage anyone can experience.

Bunny ears, I adore this picture! :)

7. Toddlers. I think we are 3 and 5 here. Wow, 4 and 6 is so different. See that Balloon in the background? It's the Energizer Bunny which brings me to...

Cute Baby Bunny.

8. Bunnies. I just LOVE them. I miss my sweet fuzzy, cuddle bunny. Kids, cats, turtle, bird = no time for baby bunnies.  Maybe when the kids leave the nest. Wait, I'll be how old? 

Reminiscing is good too.


*This is one of my very first POSTS. If any of these images are yours, please let me know so I can give proper credit. 


Recommended Reading:


Birthday Party Game for Kids

Leo the Late Bloomer*

A Wish to Be A Christmas Tree*







ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products.

*We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)