Amazon Kindle Fire HD 6" Tablet ~ Review

As you likely know I love to be connected to social media and have books on hand all the time so when I was asked to review the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 6" Tablet I didn't even think twice. I love my Paperwhite Kindle and wouldn't it be nice to have a tablet that can fit in my purse for on the go with the kids especially come summer with road trips?

First off lets get into the specifics of the Kindle Fire HD 6" Tablet and then I'll tell you how we like it. If you are in the market for a tablet or looking for one for the kids here is an affordable tablet under $150 (CAD) or $100 (US). It has a fast quad-core processor up to 1.5 GHz, it is a 6" HD screen that displays crisp, vivid HD with over a million pixels. It is great for apps, movies, TV, games, photos and more. So many to choose from with over 33 million!

There is a front and rear camera to take photos or capture videos in 1080p HD with the rear camera or you can Skype with the front-facing camera. Great for taking selfies as the kids love to do! No worries that the kids will use up all the storage space either as you get free unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon content and photos taken with your Fire device. 

It is a great device for the whole family with the following features - create unique profiles, set screen time limits with Amazon FreeTime. You can link two Amazon accounts and share books, games, apps, and Prime Instant Video content across all devices you may have in the household.

Other great features are the fast web browsing, email and calendar, edit and view Office documents and it works with Gmail & Outlook emails. 

Review: 

This is a great little tablet for all the basic needs that the kids and I love to do mobile. I use it for reading on the go or around the house, grabbing my emails, playing on Twitter. As long as you can get on wifi you can surf the internet. For offline, the kids love love reading books and playing games on it. They also love playing with the camera. I find it isn't the greatest but good for them. I am sure it is a good outside camera or just need better lightening.

My main reason for a tablet this size is social media, like Instagram, Twitter & Facebook, and reading my books that I am reviewing, I also love have it on the counter for recipes or keeping track of meal planning. The kids love it because they have their own profile to read their own books and then they can also play games, watch Netflix or YouTube. It is the prefect size to pop in my purse for times I am stuck somewhere waiting or the kids are bored on the wait. It has been great for car rides and it'll come in handy when sitting around waiting to get into appointments etc. 

I find it fits in the palm of my hand nicely while reading and I love that I can sync my Kindle Paperwhite with it as I still love that one to read in bed. I have used it for watching workout videos on YouTube. I couldn't find a good YouTube app but the browser worked just fine for it. Not a huge screen but it can be placed on a counter to watch easily. It runs pretty fast for a budget friendly price. I think this makes a great starter tablet or one for just on the go. It would be great for kids. 

It has the options to brighten the screen, rotate the screen, the home button is different that most so it is taking a bit of time to get used to it. Same with the lock screen only being swiped from right to left. 

A great tablet for a great price for what we use it for.  I give this tablet a 4.5 out of 5 stars!


~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. I received the above product in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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Express your Style with Barbie ~ Canadian Contest

Do you have a lil fashionista in your life? As far back as a toddler my daughter has had a very unique sense of style. There was no dressing her as she wanted to pair up her clothes and dress herself. Of course when she got a little bigger and could dress Barbie up that opened a whole new world of fashion style. 

Barbie has a new online interactive hub called Barbie my Dreams for contests, games and of dreams! This is a safe environment for mom and daughter to play together and WIN great prizes. Canadian fans will love collecting their favourite things, catching up with Barbie and friends and entering the latest contests.  This hub functions similar to Pinterest but for the biggest Canadian Barbie fans! Content is uploaded regularly and when you sign up for a Barbie my Dreams account you will be the first to know about new promotions. All this is FREE!

Now that you are part of Barbie my Dreams don't forget to enter the Express your Style Contest which runs now until March 23rd, 2014! With the Express your Style contest, Mom and daughter can show off their style for their chance to win a trip for four to Toronto for an unforgettable shopping experience. The Express your Style contest is a way to show off your personal style, how you stylize your Barbie or showcase your style sense by uploading your favourite outfit.  All the images are private and cannot be viewed by the public - so it's your personal spot to curate your style.

It is super easy to enter! All you need to do is post one of your fave fashion items to your Express Your Style DreamBoard. Then upload a photo of yourself, your friends and Barbie showing your fave style or look! Whatever your style is, express yourself!  Mix and Match for endless possibilities! 

What are you waiting for? Head on over to the Barbie hub to enter today! Please read the Rules & Regulations for full contest details before entering. 

Have fun and Express yourself!

 

~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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March Break: Angry Birds Star Wars Millennium Falcon Bounce Game

Today I have another fun activity for March Break to share with you. If you have some Angry Birds and Star Wars fans in the house get them ready to play Angry Birds Star Wars Millennium Falcon bounce game by Hasbro. 

What could be more fun than launching Angry Birds that are designed into your favorite Star Wars characters? The object of the game is to launch the bird balls at the Millennium Flacon target and knock over the pigs! When you land your balls in the center and cockpit you earn points and the first to score 30,000 points wins the game! 

This game includes 3 bird balls - Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca and Han Solo bird balls, the Millennium Falcon target, base, 5 cardboard pigs, 5 plastic stands and label sheets. This game is recommended for ages 8+.  For 1 or more players and adult assembly is required.

Our thoughts: This game is a lot of fun for the Angry Birds fans. My son loved trying to knock over the pigs while also aiming to get his bird into the center to work his way to 30,000 points. It is very quick to set up and can be played with one person or more. I also love that there are no batteries. The one down side was it does take time to do the assembly, putting stickers on the ship and popping out the cardboard pieces. I also had stickers I wasn't sure where they went, so I let the kids decorate the ship. I think it would be great if it came with them already on the ship. This game is sure to keep kids busy for hours on end.  

Check out Hasbro Canada for more information and where to buy.


~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn on behalf of Hasbro Canada. I received the above product for review purpose. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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Bananagrams Giveaway!

Today I have a fun little giveaway and I promise it will be easy to enter. Are you looking for a fun game to enjoy your children to learn to spell and expand their vocabulary? 

Bananagrams is a fun and zany word game! We checked out Bananagrams back in the summer of 2011 (Bananagrams fun!) and had a lot of fun using the tiles just to play with instead of really playing the game as my kids were a little to young for it. Now that my kids are older and can spell a bit we have been using the titles to practice for spelling tests.  This has helped with making homework a lot more fun. My son will write out his words on paper 4 or 5 times and then we do a quiz with the Bananagram tiles. We have done it with both his English and French words.

We are almost ready to work on learning the real rules of the game, which is all about making a crossword grid while racing your opponent to the finish (whoever runs out of tiles first!). If you are a Words with Friends fan you will want to check out Bananagrams and invite some friends over to have a great game night!

Check out the Bananagrams website for where to buy and more games that are similar. You can also check out Thomas Allen & Son Ltd to pick up a copy.     

Now for the Giveaway! Our fabulous friends at Thomas Allen & Son Ltd want to offer three (3) lucky Genuine Jenn readers a Bananagrams set! This giveaway is open to Canadians, just fill out the rafflecopter below! 
 
a Rafflecopter giveaway


~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn on behalf of Thomas Allen & Son Ltd. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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A New Monopoly Piece?

Did you know that the Monopoly game dates back to 1934? Neither did I but since hearing the recent news I thought I would look up some Monopoly facts. 

• The Official board game of Monopoly by Parker Brothers in 1934. There were numerous games similar, one called The Landlords Game in 1923.
• In 1967 while finishing off a $2 million train robbery, the trains hijackers played a game of Monopoly with the stolen money.
• In 1970's Nieman-Marcus offered an all chocolate version of the game. This version was made to the exact size of the actual game, including chocolate houses, chocolate hotels, and etc. Retail cost for this set? try $600.
• Two University of Michigan students painted an 8 x 8 foot Monopoly board on their dormitory ceiling and played the game using helium-filled balloons as tokens

Now for the most recent fact or news........................

 



~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Genuine Jenn on behalf of Hasbro Canada. I wanted  to share this information with my readers. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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Battleship Live Board Game Review

With the warm weather just about here, I know a lot of us are planning to spend lots of time outdoors but for those rainy days or even in the evenings there are some great board games out by Hasbro to get rid of the boredom and pass the time.

One game my husband and son love is Battleship Live. Okay I admit it, it is a lot of fun. This new age spin on the classic board game is fantastic. The game board is very different from the classic game but the concept is still the same - sink your opponents ships. In this game you have an interactive game tower and board (pretty cool how it works) It will recognize where your pieces and finger tips are at.

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Family Day 2012 with Hasbro Game Day!

Monday is Family Day and we are planning a nice quiet day at home. Okay who am I kidding? We are planning a fun filled day that will likely be LOUD! Our plans? Games, crafts and maybe some baking.

We have some new Hasbro Games to check out this weekend and we are very excited to try them out. Here is a sneak peak to what we will be playing this weekend and I am sure many days to come!

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Joining the Fit & Firm Friday's

Okay so I have said I want to get healthy but I am still eating junk food and not moving as I need to. I have been reading posts from Nancy at Whispered Inspirations and also Amanda at Multi-Testing Mommy, oh and don't forget Julie from Sober Julie. Okay so a lot of my favorite bloggers are getting healthy and fit.

I want in on this also. I really do want to get healthy. I am really disgusted with how I have let myself go since switching to overnights at work. I used to work one of the busiest programs at work and was always on the go. I have decided the best way to maybe stick to this healthy plan is to get support from my fellow bloggers and join in on their journeys to getting fit & firm.

Each Friday I will tell you how I have done over the past week with either eating, exercising or anything to help me in this goal. This past week I thought I would work on moving. I picked up a new Wii workout by Jillian Michael's 2011 while I was at Walmart.

I picked it up on Tuesday and worked out for about 20 minutes on it. I could really feel the burn on my leg muscles from all the lunges and squats etc. I thought on Wednesday I would take a break and try again on Friday. Well Thursday came and I picked up my kids from the bus and fell really hard hurting my hip, leg, back and even my neck. I ache from head to toe. I decided to skip working out today and I plan to get moving over the weekend even if it is just pilates or yoga. At least it is something right?

As for eating, I am not doing well at all. I work overnights and I find I am off schedule when I am working. I seem to eat a least one or two more snacks over night. This I am hoping to work on during this journey as I am hoping to turn my contract overnights into full permanent by May this year.

Goals for the week:

• Workout at least twice (need to figure out a balance with sleep) 
• Healthy eating habits - this is my busy week at work. I want to snack less and eat healthy portions.
• Get measurements and weight documented.
• Drink more water.

Click the button above to join in on getting Fit & Firm. Join in on Twitter chat with hashtag #FitNFirm

~*Disclaimer: This post was written by Canadian Coupon Mom in part of Fit & Firm Friday. This is not a sponsored post. I just want to get healthy. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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Angry Birds

There was a lot of talk one night about these things called "Angry Birds". I have seen the plush toys and posters in the store but had never really taken interest to them as I didn't think it would be for my kids age. So I hopped in on the conversation to find out more about Angry Birds. I found out that these birds are actually part of a game for the iPod, PC and even online.

These birds are very angry looking and the object of the game is to launch the birds at different structures with other round things (good pigs?)sitting on and in the structure. Once all the pigs are smashed then you pass the level and go on to the next.

This is VERY addictive for both parents and kids. After playing one night on my iPhone, I am hooked and trying to pass all the levels on my free version. It may just be one of those games I will purchase the full version app. Check out iTunes.com for your free version to check it out for yourself. I will admit some levels are hard but I figure was I pass them all, I will go back and try to earn 3 stars on each level. P is also loving this game and has requested a few times an Angry Bird toy from Shopper's Drugmart. I have told P that could be something for his list to Santa.



~*Disclaimer: This post is not a sponsored post. It has been written by Canadian Coupon Mom. Just sharing about Angry Birds game. All opinions are honest and my own.*~

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