My Little Pony Squishy Pops and Cutie Mark Magic Blind Bag Opening MLP

Check out this video where my daughters and I open up some My Little Pony blind bags and Squishy Pops.

Daredevil Netflix - Review

I recently finished watching Daredevil Season 1 on Netflix and I though it was a great season. It has a good storyline/plot in each episode and it carries well through the season.

Vincent D'onofrio does an excellent job playing the Kingpin. He does a great job of making us see the internal struggle of Kingpin wanting to make things perfect, trying to keep things "business not personal", and his contempt for the Daredevil. Not to mention trying to keep his emotions in check when DD puts a wrench in the works and when his own people screw up.

Charlie Cox does a decent job of playing the Matt Murdock/Daredevil. He's not the best actor in the world but as the series goes on he begins to grow on you. He does do a great job of making the audience see his internal struggle of trying to do the right thing and how hard it is to do that on his own and keep his secret.

Overall the show has good action, good drama, and a little levity in the right places. The special effects work well withing the story and don't overshadow it. They do a good job on character build up and connections. As a bonus they have some great subtle references to the Avengers.

Season 1 has 13 episodes and as for me, I'm hoping season 2 has 20+.

Have you watched it yet? If so let me know what you thought of it.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Well, the new Trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released last weekend, first at Star Wars Celebration 2015 then out to the public. I, unfortunately, was not able to go to the Star Wars Celebration 2015 even though it was basically in my back yard, but I did see the trailer almost right away when it was released to the public. I thought it was great trailer giving us just the right amount of preview with locations, Luke's voice over, action sequences and hints leaving us guessing what some images might mean. It was cool to see Han and Chewie and I can't wait to see how they incorporate the old characters into the new movie. Especially since Han, Chewie and I go way back.

Anyway, December is still a ways off but it will be here before we know it and I'm looking forward to a big screen Christmas Present from Disney.

Let me know what you thought of the trailer and are you anticipating the new Star Wars movie as much as I am?

Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Give Away

I'm doing a Yu-Gi-Oh! card give away!!! Check out the video for the details.

Teaching Our Children About Lying

As parents we have many aspirations, expectations, goals, hopes and dreams for our children. One of such is the hope that they will be an honest person. Along with that hope comes the responsibility of teaching them about honesty and lying. And, if we are honest with them we tell them that everyone lies at some point in their life, but if they do find themselves in a situation where they have lied they should fess up, apologise and make amends whenever possible. We teach them that lying is wrong and you should be honest. We teach them that lies can carry consequences such as hurt feelings, lost trust, damaged relationships, and possible legal trouble. Then we teach them that if they do lie it can lead to telling more lies to cover up the first lie, making up elaborate details to explain the lie, and maybe even asking others to lie for you. Inevitably we catch them in a lie and watch and hear them do all the things we told them not to. Then when we call them out on it, they see first hand how it all works and how wrapped up in it they can get. Then comes the consequences, apologies, and making up. Then (and here comes the good part) they catch us in a lie (uh oh) and we have to explain ourselves and hopefully apologise. And that leads me to my point.

While we're having all this teaching, learning and experiences with our children about lying, Christmas time rolls around and the first thing we tell them is that some guy named Santa is going to bring them gifts on Christmas Eve if they are good. We tell them elaborate details about his appearance, his reindeer and his workshop. This will suffice at first but then come the questions:
How do reindeer fly? Cover lie #1
How does he get down the chimney? Cover lie #2
How does he make all the toys? Cover lie #3
What about the people that don't have chimneys? Cover lie #4
Where is his workshop? How does he go all over the world in one night? How does he know when I'm awake/sleeping? And the list goes on. We even get our friends and family to join in on the deception with a few lies of their own. So ultimately we do all the things we teach them not to do and that are wrong and we do it year after year and the worst part is, we make it fun. Fun for us and fun for them. Now you may be thinking, but that's part of the "Magic" of Christmas. Let me ask you this. When was the last time you were lied to and found out and then thought "oh but that was magical".

What's the harm in it? The harm in it is that our children learn more by example than explanations, more by our actions than our words. So, what are we teaching them here. Lying is ok if we make it fun, cover it up as much as you can, bring in others to help you out, and stick it out till the very end and then don't apologise but laugh it off instead. Not a good example at all.

Another thing is that I've heard many children express their almost inexpressible love for Santa, their gratefulness, their appreciation for what he does and their admiration for him. Where does this come from? From the lies we've told them about him and the gifts that they have received from "him". This love and admiration is misplaced. They should be directing that love and admiration to you the parents and family. They should be placing their hope and trust in you for presents on their lists. They should want to be good for you because you are there to care for them and in turn do good things like Christmas gifts for them. Once the truth is found out it's usually too late or forgotten to redirect those important connections and emotions that they felt for someone who didn't even exist to the ones who really should be receiving it. Also the time that those connections should have been made would've been building stronger bonds and relationships and that is something that cannot be recaptured and there we have the most dire of the Christmas lies consequences. Lost love, hope, connection, and bonding at an important age. Instead they get lies and deception and a nonexistent Santa gets the love and respect that should be going to the parents.

If you tell your child that there is a Santa Clause I think you should stop now, tell them the truth, apologise and ask for forgiveness (the younger your child the better). Then have fun with your Christmas traditions in a new way with you getting the love and admiration of your children during this time of year instead of a fairy tale. You can treat Santa as just part of the Christmas fun like you would Mickey Mouse, Spider-Man, or Dora the Explorer but not a real person that brings them gifts. I have 2 girls and I love getting the hugs and love from them during Christmas. I would never want to differ that to some make believe Santa. I also believe it builds trust knowing that we didn't even lie to them about Santa and I believe that will stick with them as they get older.

Oh, and don't forget about the Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy too.

Let me know your thoughts on telling your children about Santa.

Smoothie in a Package?

The other day I was at a store and I saw a rack with packets hanging on it. They were about twice the size of a Cool-Aid packet. As I glanced at them what was on it caught my eye. The packets said Smoothie on them. So I went over to check them out. Each one was a different flavor like "Orange Smoothie, Strawberry Smoothie or Banana Smoothie. I thought to myself "are you kidding me, a Smoothie in a packet?" I took the Orange Smoothie packet off the rack and under the main title it says "Just add Oranges, Water, and Ice. "Ha Ha" I actually did LOL and my wife wondered what I was laughing at. When I told her, she said exactly what I was thinking "Then what's in the packet?" So I turned it over and looked at the ingredients and the first one was Sugar, the second one was Corn Syrup, and there were about 4 more things but I don't remember what they were now but nothing good. So, in case you don't know, the way you make a Smoothie is by putting fruit, ice and water in a blender and blend away. You can also add some milk too for some more flavor. So basically if you get this Smoothie packet what you are doing is making a Smoothie then adding a packet of sugar to it. If you're going to go through the trouble of making a Smoothie why would you buy this pack of sugar to put in it. Smoothies are supposed to be a type of healthy drink with lots of vitamins and nutrients in them, but here you are putting sugar in it. Why? Fruits are naturally sweet anyway.

Then in the directions on the Orange Smoothie packet it says "you can also substitute Orange Juice for the Oranges and Water." Now what you have is a packet of sugar mixed with processed juice loaded with preservatives and other things. Sorry, but you have now gone out of the realm of a Smoothie and into the realm of a Smoothie Flavored Drink. The sad think is, I can see people unwittingly picking up some of these thinking "I'll have some healthy drinks." when in reality they are't that healthy after adding the packet.

If you're going to make a Smoothie please don't add this packet to it. If you're going to use the fruit, water and ice and blend it up just leave out the packet of sugar. If you want some more flavor try adding Almond Milk or you can always mix several different fruits and try mixing in some veggies too.

Have you ever found something disguised as being healthy?

Health Tip of the Week - Snack Time

Snacking between meals can be healthy but not if what we snack on is loaded with sugars, nitrates, sodium and other chemicals. Try switching out those chips and sweets for some easy to snack on fruits and veggies. Small fruits make great snacks. Most fruits are naturally sweet and are loaded with nutrients. Take grapes for example, there are several different kinds of grapes which also have different flavors. Grapes are loaded with polyphenols which fight free radicals in the body. Strawberries, Blueberries and Blackberries also make great snacks and have antioxidants as well and the darker the color the more they have. I like my berry snacks cold so when I get to work I put them in the fridge and by the time I get snacky, there's a nice cold sweet treat that's good for me. Celery and baby carrots make great veggie snacks that are easy to take along too.

I did a health tip video on my YouTube channel: Here's the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuwtPti4GQo

Some other great snacks can be apples, pears, bananas, plumbs, peaches, nectarines and oranges and many more. You can also cut up some cantaloupe, watermelon, honey dew, and things like that. I also like to make my own nut mix. I generally use some pecans, walnuts, almonds, and cashews. Then I throw in some dried cranberries to add a little sweetness to it.

Have you switched out any snacks for healthier ones? 

Let me know some of your favorites,