Review: Tervis Tumblers

So a friend of mine recommended I get Tervis tumblers a while back. After some researching I ordered 3 Big T 24 oz tumblers and 2 monogrammed 10 oz tumblers. These cups are AMAZING! They are insulated plastic cups that keep your drinks cooler (or hotter) for longer.

Last week, it was scorching hot. I had a glass filled with ice cold Coke, but noticed the ice started melting super fast. So I got out my old Tervis and filled it up with ice and poured my drink in it. I left the house to run some errands and 4 hours later there was still a good amount of ice in my Tervis. The drink was ice cold and not watered down! I couldn't believe it. I've had my Tervis for over a year now, but I guess I've never really taken the time to see how well it works.

The best part about these tumblers aside from their amazing ability to retain coldness is their lifetime guarantee. If anything ever happens to your tumbler you just go online, print out their return form and ship it to them. Within a couple weeks they'll send you a replacement. You don't need a receipt or order number. All they check for is their Tervis trademark on the bottom and your good to go. I know this first hand because I dropped my Tervis on cement cracking the cup and separating the inner cup from the outer cup. It was easy as pie to get a replacement.

I've had "insulated" cups before that don't hold a candle to these tumblers. They are worth every cent you pay for them. Bed, Bath and Beyond have them available, but there is a much wider selection available on their website: www.tervis.com. They come out with new designs all the time. Right now they have a Toy Story 3 tumbler! Check them out now and see if they have a design that suits you!

Review: Discovery Toys Measure Up Cups

About 5 years ago, I went to a home party for Discovery Toys and bought this fun little product called Measure Up Cups. There's 12 brightly colored cups that nest into each other or on top of each other. Each cup has a number on the outside and a coordinating number of images on the bottom that are molded into each cup. The molded images on the bottom are great for sensory purposes. You could also stick a piece of paper on their and rub a crayon over it for a cool image.

My then 3 year old, loved this toy. We would stack them, knock them down, count them, sort them by color, and stack them by color. Such a fun learning tool!

Over the years we managed to retain all 12 cups and have been able to use it with my now 4 year old. About a month ago, I noticed my 18 month old kept taking my girls kitchen "coffee" cups and was getting very frustrated with them because he wanted to nest them, but the handles would get in the way. I quickly had my 8 year old gather up all the Measure Up Cups for my son. As soon as he got them, he literally drooled over them (and on them and in them). He would just sit there nesting them, throwing them, and sharing them. I showed him how to stack them to make a big tower, and boy did he love that!

The other day I found a product similar to these cups, but the main difference is the other cups had a big sticker with a coordinating number of images (1 fish on the number 1 cup) and no molded image on the bottom. I personally don't like the ones with the big stickers on it because we all know stickers get peeled off, or fade, and get worn out. After all the years of owning Measure Up Cups, they look exactly the way they did the day I took them out of their box for the first time.

To get a set of Measure Up Cups you can locate a local Discovery Toys consultant or go to www.Amazon.com. They retail for about $9 a set.

Review: SippiGrip by BooGinHead

If you have a baby/toddler that loves to throw their bottles or sippy cups...wait a minute, let's not kid ourselves, anyone with a baby/toddler HAS a baby/toddler who loves to throw their bottles or sippy cups...I have a great product recommendation for you. A few months ago I purchased the SippiGrip by BooGinHead.

I happened upon this little invention strolling through Babies 'R Us one day. I bought it without even checking for better pricing. There was an urgent need...I promise. Too many times in a day, my son would chuck his sippy cup on the floor at home, in a restaurant or in the car causing his sippy cup to either spill milk every where, get the drinking spout filled with germs, or lose the cup altogether (later to be found with some form of white chunk cheese in it...yuck!). So you can see why I didn't even bother looking for a better price, plus the cost to go back and get it if I didn't find a better price would just make me mad for not getting it in the first place.

Anyhow, this little contraption is so easy to use. It has a velcro closure on each end so you can strap one end onto the seatbelt of a car seat, restaurant high chair, stroller or anything else nearby. On the other end, in addition to the velcro closure, there is a rubbery lining that helps the SippiGrip hold on to the cup or bottle nice and securely. It adjusts to fit any size cup or bottle. The strap is also adjustable, so no matter how high or low off the ground your kid is, that cup will not touch the floor!

The first time we strapped that puppy on my son's cup, he tried throwing it, but was unsuccessful. He laughed when he realized his cup wasn't going anywhere. Now that he's used to the strap being there, he still throws his cup, but he likes that he can pull his cup back up by it's strap and drink out of his cup again. I like that I don't have to fetch his cup anymore!

We've brought this SippiGrip with us everywhere...even camping (I think it's an essential for camping with a baby). It's very well made and comes in lots of attractive fabric colors/patterns. I bought ours for $5.99 retail (I know, don't remind me), but you can find it on Amazon Prime for $4.79. GET ONE!!!

Review: Coleman WeatherMaster 7 Person Screened Tent

For the first time since we've had kids, my husband and I decided to go camping with the whole family. I've always wanted a nice big tent since I've only been tent camping once in my life previously. We decided on getting the Coleman WeatherMaster 7 person screened tent. We purchased our tent from Costco for $116.99 (a great deal)!

I loved the size (17'x9')! It is also very feature rich. It has several roll down windows, a hinged door, and a screened porch!

Before we actually used it to camp in, we did a practice run to make sure we could set it up with no problems and to make sure there were no defects with the tent. My husband hates putting up these kind of tents, but he let me buy it anyways because I had to have it. We had a good family friend help set it up with us (since he was going to be on the camping trip with us too). I left the two men to do their business and set up the tent, only to come out to have to help them figure out how to set it up...sometimes you really just need a woman's touch. The tent was easy enough to set up (with the right directions from a woman). The poles are marked and you just have to put them together and slide them through some slots on the top of the tent. At the bottom of the tent, near the base of each set of poles, there's a pin you have to slip into the bottom of the poles in order for the poles to remain standing. You have to start raising the tent by assembling the poles that are 2nd from the front (porch area), then you do the 3rd set of poles then the front and back poles. For some reason if you don't start with the 2nd set of poles, it's impossible to get the pins in the holes.

Once the tent is raised, there's a little bag that has all of the metal strips that you slip into the window coverings that help them roll up and down with ease. This is a VERY cool feature. For the hinged door feature, there are some corded tent poles you fit in the door. The door stays closed with a velcro feature or you can zip it shut.

The thing I loved most about the tent was the hinged door. It was so easy to get in and out of our tent with it. I didn't realize how much I liked it until we bought another tent without a hinged door and suffered through all of the zipper problems. You see, we camped with an 8 year old, 4 year old and a 15 month old. My youngest would nap during the day and if we needed anything from the tent, we could quietly get in and out without him every knowing. The next time we camped with a zippered door tent, the sound of the clanking zippers and the loud zipping noise would wake him up AND on top of that the zippers would frequently get caught in the tent material. It made us really appreciate the hinged door feature.

The tent is attractive looking, spacious and packs neatly into a duffle bag that has the instructions sewn into it. The kids love that there's two rooms (there's actually 3 rooms if you want to use a divider, which is included). I would definitely recommend buying this tent or a tent like this from Coleman.

Review: Step2 Woodland Climber

As many of you know I have 3 children. My youngest, who is 18 months old, has loved slides and climbing slides since he could sit up. We, when I say "we" I mean "I" because my husband just goes along with my ideas, decided to invest in a climber/slide for my baby boy. I searched and researched and finally decided to get him the Step2 Woodland climber.
I chose this particular climber because it has a nice protected platform (so he couldn't fall off). The individual slides they sell at Toys R Us made me extremely nervous because I could just see him adjusting his cute little bottom to get ready to slide only to fall backwards and injure himself. I also liked the look of the climber. The colors are natural and not too bright (but for those of you who like the brightly colored outdoor kids items, they do sell it in a bright version). There's also lots to do besides just climb up the ladder and slide down the slide. Underneath the platform is a little hide out, which you can fill with sand and use as a sandbox. There's also a spinning wheel that my kids love to pretend they're driving with. On the sides of the climber there are footholds for them to climb up on the side of it and into the main platform area.
The Step2 Woodland Climber was extremely easy to assemble. I mean EXTREMELY, took us about 15 minutes (with the help of a power drill). For the first hour after it's assembly, my little boy and 4 year old girl just ran in circles going up the climber and down the slide and screaming with delight.
Everyday since we've had the climber, we just leave our sliding door open and my little one goes in and out as he pleases and climbs up and down and slides to his hearts content. It's so much fun to see how happy he is playing on this and makes the purchase worth every dime!

Why "Worth My 2 Pennies"?

Some of you might be wondering why I'd name this blog "Worth My 2 Pennies". Well there are a few reasons.

First and foremost...I'm a bargain hunter. Doesn't mean I don't buy expensive things, I just like to make sure my money is well spent whether it be on inexpensive things or designer things.

Secondly, I am Filipino American. For some reason Filipinos tend to get sayings wrong all the time, so my husband and I thought it would be fun to play on this particular weakness of the Filipino culture (and I'm allowed to because I'm Filipino). My mom (and sometimes my dad) get little sayings like "oil change" and "let the cat out of the bag" completely mixed up. My parents would say, "change oil" and "let the kitten out of the purse". One time my mom went to the box office at a movie theater and asked for two tickets to see "Indecent Exposure" when she really meant "Indecent Proposal"...so you get my drift (or as my parents would say, "you caught my drift"). I'm certainly not trying to be disrespectful to my heritage, rather I'm playing with it and having fun with it. Believe me, even my parents get a kick out of their misunderstanding of how to use American sayings.

Oh yeah, the third and final reason I used this blog title is because my2cents and every variation of it was already being used, plus (now that you've been given a background on my decision making) this is much more fun! Don't you agree?

Reviews Blog

Hi, my name is Christine! I'm a SAHM (Stay-At-Home-Mom) of three children who are 8, 4 and 1 1/2 years old. Most people who know me, know I love to shop and I also like to find a great deal. I do a lot of search and research on everything I buy. I've decided to start a review blog to give others my opinions about things I've bought to maybe help people decide whether or not to purchase a product.

Most of the items I buy are from Costco, Amazon, Walmart, Target and other online retailers. My hope is to be informative and helpful! Hope you enjoy my blog!