We’ve put together a short list of the five best brain teaser games on the market that aim to both entertain and keep your mind active:

• Mahjong. A traditional Chinese tile-matching game, Android phones as well as iPhones offer a wide variety of different versions of this classic brain teaser, which stimulates your mind through cognitive improvement as well as increased visual acuity. This is ideal for lovers of games like chess and checkers.
• Brain Age. Nintendo’s classic started the digital brain teaser trend in 2004 when it released Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day in 2004, an aggregate product that combines puzzles of all kinds into one package and tracks your progress in terms of your brain’s calculated “age” through a journal. Spin-off series like Big Brain Academy similarly offer puzzles and fun mini-games that challenge gamers’ ability to process information.
• OpenSudoku. This free app provides a simple and clean Sudoku experience with a baseline of 90 puzzles, and 400 more that are unlockable. Better yet, you can even create your own puzzles. Sudoku is widely known to be a great brain teaser for improving memory and enhancing critical thinking skills.
• Numbology. Combine Tetris with the intensity of your calculus class, and you have Numbology. This mind-exercising has you solving equations one-by-one in order to keep blocks from surfacing to the top of the screen and effectively ending your game. This is great for testing logic and enhancing valuable spatial skills.
• Four Second Fury. Imagine WarioWare made even more intense than it already is. Players are given four seconds to solve a puzzle or beat a mini-game, which challenges your attention span as much as it does the sharpness of your vision. The game is addictive while putting the pressure on your brain to truly think fast.

Download games & play games online with Big Fish Games. From hidden object games to puzzle games, and of course brain teasers. Big Fish Games provides an easy way to find entertainment through online games & has a game for anyone of any age.

Using the ColorTouch mobile application on their smartphones or tablet computers over Wi-Fi, 3G or 4G, or over the Internet, users can control their energy usage and reduce energy costs from any location, at any time. The ColorTouch thermostat with the Skyport Wi-Fi Key and the mobile application connect remotely using Venstar’s secure Skyport Cloud Services.

“The ColorTouch Skyport Wi-Fi Key transforms the thermostat into a Wi-Fi device that allows users to monitor and control their home thermostats from any compatible mobile device or computer via Skyport, our proprietary cloud service,” said Steve Dushane, president and CEO of Venstar Inc.  “Whether they are in the same room as the thermostat, across town or on the other side of the world, users can now remotely monitor and control their home thermostats. Users can adjust the temperature up or down when they are on the way home from work, and they can even do it from their smartphones without getting up from the couch.”

The new ColorTouch residential mobile application allows users to remotely monitor and control up to 10 thermostats at up to 10 locations.  Multiple people can control thermostats at the same home individually from their mobile devices.

Once a Skyport Cloud account is created online, users can use the application on their mobile devices or directly from the Web to:

• Monitor thermostat information, including system run time and current usage;
• View incoming alerts based on pre-configured notifications, such as important updates on the health of the system or simply if the home’s inside temperature has gone above or below pre-set limits;
• View a pictorial display of the current weather and weather forecast for all thermostat locations; and
• Send text messages from the mobile device to the thermostat display, such as reminders and notes to family members.

In addition, users can receive vital updates from their HVAC professionals on the health of their systems right on the thermostat display.

The Home Thermostat That Thinks It’s a Digital Picture Frame

In addition to its new mobility features, the ColorTouch residential thermostat with the Skyport Wi-Fi Key adds to the many benefits of the original ColorTouch thermostat.  Its multi-functional, simple-to-use, richly featured, programmable touch screen thermostat has customizable backgrounds, including the users’ own photos, and more than a dozen pre-set themes, including holiday themes.  Compatible with virtually every type of heating and air conditioning system, ColorTouch can be configured to display one of three languages: English, French or Spanish.  ColorTouch is the thermostat that thinks it’s a digital picture frame!

Five Menu Items Make Programming Fast and Easy

The ColorTouch residential thermostat with the Skyport Wi-Fi Key comes standard with the ColorTouch Assistant software for PC or Mac, which has five main menu items that make programming the ColorTouch thermostat fast and easy.  From their smartphones, tablets or computers, homeowners can use the ColorTouch Assistant to control the following from anywhere in the world:

• Picture Gallery — users can easily find and upload their own photos.  Editing tools allow for photo placement, color and brightness adjustments.
• Service Information — allows the contractor to provide service contact information.  This can also be done directly on the thermostat.
• Schedule — users can see an “overview” of the time period schedule for heating and cooling and can edit the schedule from any Mac or PC desktop or laptop computer running ColorTouch Assistant.  The user can also view and change the schedule directly from the thermostat.
• Thermostat Settings — users can adjust preferences, alerts, daylight savings, vacation, security, and overall system settings.  The user can also make setting changes directly on the thermostat.
• Automatic Updates to ColorTouch Software and Firmware (the operating system and feature set) — When the user opens the ColorTouch Assistant application, it automatically connects to Venstar’s Web site in the background and updates the ColorTouch Assistant and thermostat firmware to the latest revisions at no charge. ColorTouch Assistant updates the firmware to the Skyport Wi-Fi Key to be uploaded to the thermostat, which then updates the thermostat.   Updating the firmware ensures that the user always has the most current system software, including new features and performance enhancements.

Users of the ColorTouch residential thermostat can “get connected” by adding the Skyport Wi-Fi Key card, priced at under $100 (estimated consumer cost).  Upgrade process includes a simple firmware update using ColorTouch Assistant.

For more information, visit: http://www.venstar.com/Thermostats/

For product videos, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8reHhhLdMQ

About Venstar Inc.

Founded in 1992, Venstar Inc. is a leading thermostat and energy management system (EMS) supplier, known for providing value to its customers via ease of use and installation, proven cost savings, improved energy efficiency, quality and reliability. Venstar is one of the largest thermostat suppliers in the world and designs and produces Venstar-branded products, as well as OEM thermostat products for the biggest names in HVAC. Venstar’s Surveyor is a leading energy management system, typically saving small-box retailers 25 percent of their energy costs, which translates to millions of dollars in savings and dramatic reductions in C0₂ emissions. Surveyor currently controls the energy usage of more than 13,000 retail locations across the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Canada.

http://www.amazon.com/Breeding-in-Captivity-ebook/dp/B007ZIRC4W/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335995663&sr=1-2

It’s hysterically funny, heartbreaking at times and Jessica Caris, the author went through a divorce while pregnant, which inspired some of the plot lines. While fictional, it does address the challenges all mothers’ face and is inspirational!

If Sex in the City were translated through the lens of a single mom, it would feel like this great novel, set in California and New York .

About the book…. 

Naomi Carter is a fast-rising, romantically-challenged professional, who aches to get married and have a family. After many first-dates which never lead to a second, she is introduced to a handsome client. A whirlwind courtship ensues, and she blinks an eye and is married, finally!  Like bad egg salad, things spoil quickly, and she suddenly finds herself pregnant, mother to a toddler, and divorcing. With all of her accounts mysteriously cleared, our spoiled princess is broke. Travertine gives way to Pergo and Hermes is replaced by Target.

Shopping sprees in St.Barth’s are replaced by used-item purchases on Craigslist.  Caring for a toddler son and five months pregnant with a daughter, while her estranged husband romances anything with an orifice, Mrs. Carter snaps.

When she is so financially strapped, the water is shut off and she has to resort to baby-wipes, Naomi finally shakes off her defenselessness. Smart and strategic, she exposes her nasty husband’s duplicity, regains her footing and prevails over an ex husband who treated her like a piece of furniture.  Readers leave her with her svelte figure and professional standing in tact, love within view and a better understanding of what a “dream life” really is.

Just as she clawed her way up the corporate ladder, our heroine finds the moxy to overcome circumstances that would have reduced many women to a long “good night” with a fistful of Vicodin and bottle of Belvedere.

This book will remind any woman, young or old, married or single, who has ever thought her life was “ruined” or “over”, that a superhuman strength she never knew existed, resides deep within her. Any reader with children will identify with Naomi’s tireless fight to protect and provide for her two, still-diapered children, and the bone-chilling fear and subsequent aggression that come when a mother’s young are threatened.

Breeding in Captivity has all of the fun, fashiony appeal of other Manhattanmanhunt books like Jennifer Weiner’s titles, such as Good in Bedby (Washington Square Press, 2002).  Breeding’s heartache and recovery has vestiges of Lolly Winston’s Good Grief (Grand Central Publishing, 2007). Caris’ book’s mommy and married to CEO aspects are like Jill Kargman’s books, Momzillas (Broadway, 2008) and The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund (Dutton Adult, 2009). Then there is Caris’ humor, similar to Tracy Davis’s in My Husband Ran off with the Nanny and God Do I Miss Her (BookSurge, 2009).

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Jessica Caris is the founder of Caris Communications (www.cariscommunications.com, a consultancy that provides writing, publicity, public relations and communications services. A nationally acclaimed and award-winning public relations executive and writer, Jessica has worked with many publicly-traded and Fortune 100 companies, including New York Life, Wyeth Pharmaceutical, BearingPoint, Deutsche Bank Private Wealth, Smith Barney Private Wealth, Bessemer Trust, Old Mutual Asset Management, Bridgepoint Education and many others. Jessica was an on-air reporter at Bloomberg TV and a producer and writer at CNN in New York . Her corporate articles have been published in national publications such as Bloomberg, Barron’s, Career College Central and others. She lives in Del Mar, California . When she’s not writing, consulting, or changing diapers, Jessica loves to run marathons, drink martinis, and look for sand crabs on dog beach with her son and daughter.

John 8:44

“You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ”

1 Peter 5:8-9

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”

Satan is VERY real. He is cunning. He easily convinces us of his lies. Our flesh is weak, we are sinful by nature. Satan whispers his lies in our ear. Things like, “You deserve to be treated better”, “If he loved you….”, “God is not there for you, you have to take care of yourself”. These whisperings may seem like our own thoughts, when we agree with these lies, we are making agreements with our enemy. Where we make agreements, we form strongholds. We slip into sin. We lie to ourselves, and we lie to others. I did. I thought I was alone in my struggle, but 1 Peter 5:8-9 says that we should resist our enemy, stand firm in our faith, and that we are not alone. Everyone is experiencing the same kinds of attacks, everywhere in the world.

Satan spoke lies to me. I was weak in my faith. I didn’t trust God. I believed my enemy and made agreements with him. I let him build strongholds in me. The sin in my life and in my heart separated me from God. I lied to myself. I became my own god. I was unfaithful to my husband before I even realized I was being unfaithful. Emotionally. Verbally. I lied to him repeatedly about the nature of the relationship I was involved in. I lied about where I was going, who I was talking to. I started to believe my own lies. They became easier and easier to speak, to believe. I had no remorse for them. I just didn’t care anymore.

Making agreements with Satan is a very real, very powerful, very destructive thing. Bakinghomesteader did a phenomenal job explaining agreements with Satan. Please take a minute to read her post to better understand this.

We are all born sinful, it is a daily struggle to overcome sin and live pure lives.

Ephesians 6:12

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

This is where we put on the full armor of God. We resist the enemy. We have to break those agreements, destroy those strongholds. No more lies! I’m not going to tell you this will be easy, it won’t be. It will hurt. It will change your life though, and you will start to see yourself the way God created you. Beautiful. In His own image.

I don’t want to be a liar anymore. I won’t believe the enemy’s lies either.

I come from an extensive line of dysfunction. It permeates every part of me, until it feels normal. What seem like rational choices to me, and I suppose most of my extended family members, are unthinkable to other healthy people. My history reads like a soap opera. When people hear my story, they say things like “Wow”, “Whoa”, and “Crazy”. My nuclear family has seen abuse in many forms, I was raised in an abusive home, physical, mental, verbal and yes, even sexual. I survived all of that, and it shaped me. How I view my world, myself, God. Still, I have no excuses. I have a long history of multiple divorces in my family as well. Healthy marriage relationships are the exception, not the rule. As I sit and ponder this, I am having a hard time pinpointing the actual healthy, happy marriages in my family line. I know they have to exist, but they are few and far between.

All of this to say, my family history has influenced the choices I have made, distorted my reality of normal. But we are all born sinners, imperfect, fallen short of the glory of God. There are no excuses for our behavior. We have free will. We are responsible for our choices.  I am responsible for my choices, my life. Seeing how far I have fallen short, deeply hurts.

I have been so wrong for so long. Just because I have grown up in a home knowing who God is, doesn’t mean I knew God. I thought I was saved. I knew the right answers. I thought I knew my bible. I thought I knew God. I didn’t.

I have told you all before about my marriages, my divorces, dealing with domestic violence and the custody battle for my children. I didn’t tell you how far I had fallen away from God. I didn’t tell you that I didn’t really know Jesus. I used my blog as a platform for slander, for hurt, for lies. I struggle with abandonment issues. Anger. Self image. All vile products of abuse. If I feel threatened, I strike out in anger. If I think you will hurt me, I will hurt you first. If I think you will leave me, I will leave you first. I hated myself. I was black, ugly and evil inside. Jesus never had the authority to clean up my heart, to reside there. I had invited Him in, I wanted his blessings, but the hurtful ugly places in me were off-limits to Him. I didn’t want him to see those places. It hurt too much.

For years, I prayed for restoration of my family, for my kids to come home. I didn’t wait on the Lord. I gave up on Him when I thought He was taking too long. I withdrew from Him. They say the path to sin is a slippery one. It is true. One tiny step off course, and eventually you are sliding headlong down a hill of destruction straight to hell. I did this. I lied to myself, rationalized my actions. My marriage had not been a perfect one. We are two imperfect people. Two hurt people. Jesus should have been the foundation, the center. He wasn’t. I had unfulfilled needs I should have been taking to God, I didn’t. I reached outside my marriage. I was unfaithful. That relationship plunged me into darkness. So deep in my sin, I could no longer see God. I couldn’t hear him. I blasphemed His name. I denied Him. He allowed me to do all of these things. He allowed my marriage to die by my own hands. Yes, my husband had a part in this. That is his story to tell. My story is what is important right now. I was so deeply engrossed in darkness and sin, I could only lash out in anger and continue in my path of destruction. My husband and I divorced in December. God allowed us to make that choice.

In February, I hit the bottom of my pit of sin. I saw myself for who I was. I saw my hurt. All of it. I felt the distance I had created between me and God. I cried. Unstoppable crying. For weeks. I wanted to hurt myself. I did. I wanted to die. I didn’t. It wasn’t just the extremely inappropriate, sinful, ugly relationship I had entered into with a partner outside of my marriage. That was ugly enough. It was every hurt I had ever felt since my memories began. It was every hurt I had ever inflicted on anyone in my life. It was all of the pain and dysfunction I had passed on to my children. The cycle had to stop.

God rescued me.

I am too exhausted to go on right now. This story is long. It is a story of sin. Redemption. Reconciliation. Restoration. God’s perfect absolute love for us. His grace. His mercy. His glory. I will tell it to the best of my ability, with God’s help. For His glory, truthfully. No more lies. A little at a time.

Please come back to hear my story, I promise it ends beautifully.

As the seasons change, so do maternity wear trends and styles.  Thanks to new fashions from companies like Vertbaudet, expectant mums can find plenty of maternity wear options to keep them stylish throughout their pregnancies.  Some of the new season trends in maternity wear involve patterned fabrics and even more flattering styles, while others make use of different fabrics and cuts.

Long cardigans are a great choice for transitional seasons such as fall and Spring.  These long-sleeved sweaters are perfect for cooler temperatures and windy Spring days.  Maternity cardigans are generally open at the belly to give pregnant women plenty of room as they progress through pregnancy.  You might like a button up cardigan that helps you stay warm when you like or open up the sweater if you choose.  Long-sleeved tops are another good choice for windy days.  Some newer styles have shortened v-neck collars to elongate the torso or deeper collars and empire waists to give you plenty of room at the waistline.

Image courtesy of Vertbaudet

Another new season trend in maternity wear makes use of horizontal stripes.  Traditionally, expectant mums used to avoid horizontal stripes because of concern that this pattern would make them look heavier.  However, new designers have added this pattern onto tops that are designed to compliment a pregnant woman’s frame.  Sailor shirts, which have three-quarter sleeves and crew neck collars, are very flattering with horizontal stripes.  Some maternity dresses also feature this striped pattern and add yet another flattering accent – contrasting colours.  A horizontally striped dress with a light coloured top and a dark coloured bottom does wonders for a pregnant figure.

More and more designers are also trending toward the casual look for maternity wear.  Strappy dresses made with a light poplin fabric or a knit material are comfortable enough for everyday wear but dressy enough to compliment your physique.  Most of these dresses are made with either empire waists, which are raised right under the bust, or dropped waists, which fall below the belly and across the hips.  Button up denim-style dresses are also a popular new style for pregnant women.  These dresses can be accented with low leather belts and cowboy boots.

Solid colours are another growing maternity trend for women.  Sticking with a solid colour makes your entire figure look streamlined and elongated, which makes you appear thinner.  Neutral colours such as white, taupe, grey, and beige are very popular for bottoms such as leggings, shorts, and trousers.  These items can often be paired with neutral tops and sweaters for a modern look.

Maternity jackets are also getting a new look to match our changing times.  A poncho is a perfect maternity jacket style for pregnant mothers since they can be buttoned up to the neck but left open at the belly. For a crisper look, you could choose a tailored jacket with three-quarter sleeves and an open front, which could go with either a casual look or a professional outfit.

Image courtesy of Vertbaudet

Vertbaudet offers a range of baby clothes, children’s clothes, maternity wear and home collections for you and your little one’s and with their Mid Season Sale is now on, there’s various items reduced by up to 50% off. Visit Vertbaudet now at www.vertbaudet.co.uk

Until I met my husband, I honestly didn’t enjoy the taste of hot tea.  Looking back, my problem was that I wasn’t drinking the RIGHT kind of tea!!  My mother-in-law first introduced me to Good Earth tea when Nate and I were dating!  Beginning with my first cup, I have always enjoyed the sweet and spicy flavor of this amazing tea!  I found that when I introduced it to friends that didn’t normally like hot tea, they even enjoyed it!

Here is a wonderful description from the company:

Good Earth Tea’s “Sweet & Spicy” has a strong aromatic sweet cinnamon smell with hints of orange goodness that is cin-fully delicious. It’s sure to warm you and your date up – and spice up your night! Its distinctive cinnamony flavor is so sweet and delicious, you don’t need to add anything but water. Sugar free, zero calorie, and available in decaf, Sweet & Spicy is a special sweet treat for you and your sweet-tea, perfect as a dessert pairing.

My Review:  I LOVE Good Earth “Sweet and Spicy” hot tea!!  Nate and I usually enjoy a glass of tea in the evening after the children are in bed!  It is a nice tradition we have to “wind down” from the craziness of the day!!  The minute the hot water hits the tea packet, the aroma is so delightful!  It clears the sinuses and is very calming!  Finally, I must admit, for added sweetness, I usually like a little stevia in my tea!  However, with this tea, I only need to use about a 1/3 of a pack.

I would have to agree with the above description, it is truly “cin-fully delicious!”

After looking over their website, I would love to try the GOOD EARTH® SUPERFRUIT WHITE TEA – MANGOSTEEN & MANGO!

BUY IT: HERE or at your local grocer.

Thanks to What Mama Wants for the opportunity to review this awesome product!

Allyson (Long Family Chronicles)

• 6mo – Simple Purees
  • Harvest Pear, Pumpkin, and Banana
  • Juicy Pear and Garden Greens
  • Orchard Apple, Carrot Prune

  

• 7mo – Yummy Combos
  • Baby’s Sweet Potato Pie
  • Roasted Squash and Fruit Medley
  • Apple, Sweet Potato Berry Swirl

  

• 8mo+ – Tasty Textures
  • Old Fashioned Apple Crisp
  • Vanilla Banana Berry Risotto
  • Tropical Banana Bliss

She ate eat pouch enthusiastically, and we got to try every flavor! I think we definitely have a foodie on our hands.

Even big brother got in on the action by feeding her (note the funny face).