#LevelsforGuitar Online #Guitar Lessons #Review

     This is the second year that The Big One and I are participating in a state culture swap.  We just got our first package on Saturday.  It was from a family in Texas and along with some awesome information and recipes, it came with a brown paper goodie bag.  Guess which part of the goodie bag The Big One likes the best?  In fact, she laid claim on it the second she saw it.  You can probably guess by the logo on the top of the page, it's the guitar pick.
     It was the perfect addition to her new guitar lessons that we just dived into.  I think it's awesome, because I could never even begin to teach her myself.  I know a few people who could, but they have busy lives, and she really wants to learn to play.

     The site that we go to for our guitar lessons is Levels For Guitar.  It gives step by step videos to take you from the very basics, through sight reading, and up through intermediate lessons as well.  It doesn't leave any learning gaps and it doesn't overwhelm you with big, long lessons.  The first things she started learning is how to properly hold the guitar and the pick so as not to stress the hands or the arms.  I never even thought about stress on the arms!

     After a few more lessons she will be learning her first two chords (E-Minor and A-Minor, if you're interested).  Then she will be able to do her first mini song to help her learn to switch chords with more and more ease.  And the lessons take you through both acoustic and electric guitars so there is no guesswork involved.

     I know it's a bit late in the school year to be saying this, but it's still up in the air whether or not The Big One will be attending regular school or not.  The plan is yes, but we won't know for sure for another week or so when we get the results back for her grade assessment.  I wanted to give her the most time and the best chance that I could to be able to progress.  I think she will do fine and pass just fine.  But if she doesn't, she will be home schooled again.  And if she is, this is the PERFECT alternative to music class.  And we would be using it as such.

     And it's so affordable!  Normal guitar lessons couldmake you go broke!  But for the same cost as Netflix, you can get guitar lessons for the whole family!
     What I love best is that it doesn't seem to leave ANYTHING out and the video lessons go in a perfect order.  I really think that kids could learn guitar very easily with this.  Not just guitar, but music theory and everything they would need to learn other instruments in the future more easily.  I am so very thankful that we have this to use.  Big thanks to Levels For Guitar for creating such an amazing study program!

     Can you play an instrument?  If you can't, what instrument would you like to learn to play?


     To learn more, check out Levels For Guitar on Facebook, on their website or on Youtube.



Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

@ManCrates Brings the Fun Back! #OldSchool

     I don't remember a whole lot from when I was a kid.  I mean, I remember bits and pieces of trips we took, I remember bits and pieces of events that we went to, I definitely remember the music, but my memory as far as what I did on a day to day basis is pretty tragic.  I think maybe I stayed in my room and slept for my entire childhood.  But I do remember very fondly some of the toys and gadgets that I had and played with.

     Recently I was pointed in the direction of a pretty cool gift from Man Crates.  I had seen Man Crates before and actually thought of getting one for my brother a year or two ago for Christmas.  The whole idea is that it's a crate filled like a gift basket would be, but it has to be pried open with a crowbar, which is a really neat trade mark I think.

     The really cool gift that I was shown was the "Old School Crate".  It's filled full of awesome things that we remember from childhood.  Specifically, it has these things:

Nostalgia Tokens

• Slinky
• Rubick's Cube
• Yomega Yo-Yo
• Pez Dispenser

100 Years of Candy

• Good & Plenty (Introduced 1883)
• Cracker Jacks (1893)
• Pez Candy (1927)
• Red Vines (1952)
• Now and Later (1962)
• Lemonheads (1962)
• Sugar Babies (1963)
• Pop Rocks (1970)
• Big League Chew (1980)
• Nerds (1983)
• Cry Babies (1990)

      I started thinking about what I would want in my crate.  First of all, because I'm a woman (not to be sexist or anything), I think having it in a hand bag would be awesome.  And specifically, if it's a vintage-filled "crate", it'd be even more awesome for this particular bag to be a train case.  Remember those?  Awww, man, the feeling I get when I see one of those *smile*  And it would be even more super cool to have the key on a chain to wear as a necklace... just saying.
     Okay, for the contents (I've thought long and hard about this), it would contain four of the following:

1. Pogs.  I still have some in a green plastic container.  They are awesome.  I didn't play a whole lot with them, but they were HUGE when I was a kid and I felt so cool just to have some.  How sweet would it be if they made a come back?  Pogs with Angry Birds, Spongebob, Sofia the First, logos like Under Armor and Sketchers... I would snatch them up for my kids in a heart beat!

2. One of those Talkgirl recording pens.  You could record messages to your friends and it was like a high tech form of passing notes.  You could also record the teacher or the boy you liked.  It was an awesome accessory for sure.

3.  A Giga Pet.  Although Tomagotchi seems to have snuck in and taken the spotlight from Giga Pets, I never once heard of them growing up.  It was Giga Pet or nothing when I was a kid.  Still, a crate with a Tomagotchi would bring back fond pet parent memories too, even if the pet never did last more than a few days before dying while I slept.

4.  A Yak Bak.  It's essentially the same idea as the Talk Girl Pen.  You record and it repeats it back.  But this one is a key chain and it was best to attach it to your book bag or to your pant loops.  These ones you could record a message on and trade with your best friend before going home for the day, then you could leave your friend a message back on theirs.

5.  A water game.  I could spend hours on these when I was a kid.  It was relaxing, yet challenging.  There were lots of different kinds and it was something I was actually pretty good at.

6.  Fashion Plates!  I should have listed this first.  These were way more prevalent when I was a kid.  They're pretty hard to find now, although my kids have owned a couple sets over the years.  Even if you made the same outfit multiple times, you could always add your own spin on it, so it was fun and a great way to express creativity.

7.  Silly Putty.  I love the smell, I love the copying effect it has, I loved the color.  I loved everything.  It was messy if you didn't take care of it, though.  I smushed it into more than one thing by accident that it wouldn't come out of.  I still hold feelings of guilt over those things, but it doesn't mean I don't want more putty!

8.  And lastly, a handheld video game.  Nothing was cooler than that.  It was a great way to pass the time on the bus.  Admit it, you wanna reach through the screen and grab that sucker up to play it right now, don't you?  I do!

     Well that's it for the toy part, 4 of those and some snacks would be perfect.  So now I need about 11 treats, so let's dig through my memory bank, what's left of it.

1.  First of all, we need whistle pops.  After the lollipop has been finished, you get the most awesome and most irritating slide whistle known to man.  That baby would bug the snot out of anyone who wasn't directly involved in it being played, like siblings who were making you mad for instance.

2.  Another big one, even though it's still being sold today is Rock Candy.  Remember making that in school?  It was the coolest candy ever back then.  It was a stick of crystal... that you ATE!

3.  Pop Rocks!  Just don't eat them with soda or your stomach will explode... remember that?  Of course I never dared to try that out because who would want to prove that theory true?  Not me!

4.  Speaking of soda, Wax Bottles have to be in there.  The look on our faces when Dad showed up with some of these bad boys, it was one of pure awe and excitement, I tell ya.  And then of course, the wax was totally edible.  Am I right?

5.  Bazooka Gum.  It is still sold and they do still come with cartoons, but it never does get old.  It always takes me back to when we used to walk to the store from my grandmothers and get sandwiches and candy.  I miss those days.

6.  Orbitz.  Why this was taken off the market is beyond me.  It was the most unique and special drink ever made.  In my class, the floaty bits were actually picked out of people's drinks and handed around like candy to all the kids eagerly holding their hand out.  And if you were lucky enough to have Orbitz on any particular day, the rest of us were most definitely jealous!

7.  Surge.  Because who doesn't miss Surge.  I remember one day my parents were out and I had fallen asleep on the train seat (our couch was a train seat... oh, the memories).  I awoke that night by a giant green alien full of surge right in my face.  I wasn't scared, only psyched.

8.  Cracker Jack.  In the box.  Before the prizes got real lame.  Back when they were light switch cover stickers and things like that.  Of course, you can't make things just go back to how awesome they used to be, so regular new Cracker Jack will have to do.

     Whoo!  Three to go, I'm doing alright, I guess.

9.  Sqweeze Pops.  They were the kind that you could go 50/50 with a friend and just break it open over your knee and share it.  They were so big, too!  I wish they sold these at the local store like they did when I was younger.  I'd buy them every day for my kids so that they could enjoy them like I used to.

10.  Necco Wafers.  I've made myself a promise that I get a pack every time I see them.  This was another one of those candies that I got when I would walk to the store by my grandmother's house.  Poor Gram, I think we probably milked her dry without ever realizing that we were.

11.  This last one might be a bit controversial.  But my childhood just wouldn't have tasted so good without them.  Candy cigarettes and candy cigars.  Looking back on it, of course I realize that it is a terrible selling point and I wouldn't buy them for my kids if they were packaged like they were back then.  But they were good.  Like, really good.  And we did pretend to smoke them of course, I mean, they WERE cigarettes.  But I never did grow up to smoke, so I would want to see them in my own personal crate.

     Well, that's it!  That would be my dream crate.  I would love and adore every single item and I definitely wouldn't share.  What would you put in your crate?

     Wanna check out what other Man Crates there are?  Visit Man Crates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and on their website to learn more.

Mommy and Me Date with Baby Bee

     The Big One, Punk, and The Big One's friend, Little M are all gone for the week at camp.  This is the first morning in an entire week of having only three kids at home.  And a certain Broofy decides that it's a great day to call his wife at 5 in the morning to ask a favor.  I wrote letters for Punk to read each night and I told her that I was sleeping all day today.  Yet here it is at 6 in the morning and I can't sleep.  I tried getting back to sleep, oh yes I did.  Even with a dog and 3 kids in my bed, I feel wide awake.  I even tried reaching over the dog's butt and holding Boogie's hand to help me settle back in... but nope.  And now I'm hungry to boot.  This morning is not the super awesome first morning of vacation that I had planned.

     So here I am talking with all of you.  How is your morning?  Get good sleep?  Drink a coffee for me this morning, will you?
     Okay, so lately I have been going on Mommy and Me Dates.  I did it once before and it was good to get that time alone.  But this time I am doing it better.  I'm not excusing them from school for the day, so I'm not sure if the kids like it better, but I do.

     Saturday evening was my date with Baby Bee.  I got to say, it was one of the funnest dates ever.  I let her direct me on where to go.  It was the coolest thing.  She directed me to drive behind all these businesses and in alleys I had never been to before.  We walked across a wooden bridge and explored the nearby "city" like I never had before.  It was all in the name of a photo shoot.

     And you know what?  I didn't even have my camera.  I used the smart phone Broofy just found in the garbage a few weeks ago and that was our camera.  No, he doesn't trach pick.  He's a garbage man and the bag ripped open.  The phone is perfect, not a flaw in it.  I wish I had had the camera, but it is what it is and the photo shoot was so fun!

     Every time she saw a pretty place, we went and shot some photos.  She would say "Drive this way, now this way.  Park here, I want a picture on these stairs."  She even directed me to park in such a way that she could take a photo without the group of people across the alley being able to see.  She was so funny.  We took photos at the police station:

     At the post office:

 

     On fire escapes:

     And against back alley walls:

     She sure knows how to pick 'em.  We also went inside to a friend's house, to two Dunkin Donuts shops, McDonald's, and Walmart for a bit of girly shopping.  Of course she chose the aisles that we went to.  She wanted school sneakers, so we did that:

 

     And she wanted to play in the Play Place, so we did that.

     I can't wait til me and Baby Bee go out again.

     Do you get one on one time with your kiddos?  What kinds of things do you do?

     Okay, 8am and I'm attempting one more time ot go back to bed.  Wish me luck!