I was recently offered the opportunity to review the Bellavita iPhone Wallet for men. I was excited!!

I love my iPhone and, like most people, don’t know how to function without it!

But it seems like with the introduction of cell phones, we need one more pocket. I carry my wallet, my keys, my smokes, change, a pocket knife, and my iPhone in my pants pockets!! My wife tells me I need a purse! LOL!!

So when I heard of this iPhone wallet, I immediately was interested because if it worked out I would not have to carry my wallet any more!

So, it arrived and I immediately realized it did not have near the storage as my full sized wallet…but that is fine. I carry a lot of unneeded junk in my wallet anyways…everything but money.

The Bellavita wallet has two credit card pockets, an ID pocket, and a larger pocket to stash a few dollars into.

On the phone side of the wallet it has access holes for the silent switch, volume buttons, speakers, charging port, and camera!

It does a really nice job of protecting your phone and looking stylish, but there are a few things I did not like.

The phone moved around inside it’s holder a bit too much. Sometimes the leather would come over the edge of the screen and would prevent me from using buttons on the very edge of the screen. Also, when it moved a couple times, it partly blocked the camera. Maybe I was doing something wrong…

Another thing I did not care for was having my ID, credit cards, and cash ALWAYS attached to my phone.

When I was on calls I flipped the wallet open and now all if my financial stuff was on the outside of the wallet for everyone to see. I was not real comfortable with that.

Also when I had to put my phone on the charger at a friends house and leave it on their kitchen counter, I was constantly checking it to make sure none of my cash had disappeared.

The iPhone wallet is an awesome idea!! But just not for me. I am too paranoid to have my credit cards and cash attached to my phone. I like my wallet to stay in my pocket and only come out when I need it. Not every time i want to check Facebook…

It was fun to get out of the house for a change and enjoy something different.

We found the guy outside selling race flags for $2 instead of $10 inside. . Ace got his flag and went running away with his flag in the air before I had a chance to even pay for the flag. I had to chase him down and then come back to pay the guy. I bet he thought I was pulling a fast one on him.

Once inside he HAD to have popcorn. This guy can eat some popcorn! One giant tub in his little belly. (I only ate maybe two handfuls)

As you can see from the picture he was memorized by the monster trucks and enjoyed every minute of it.

At intermission he was ready to go. I tried to convince him we should stay for the freestyle event, but he was done.

So we headed home… We may not have stayed the whole time, but we had fun while we were there!

We are always on the look out for inexpensive things to do with the kids around town…and sometimes it is not easy! Hell, just going to McDonalds will run a family of four $20+ these days.

So when I heard about the Columbus Commons Family Fun Day, I was excited. It is free to walk around and look, but what fun is that? It only costs $5 per kid for an all day pass to all of the activities.

Instead of rambling on about what a good deal it was, how about I share some pictures to show how much the kids enjoyed it!!!

Oh yeah, and if you are in the need for some awesome wedding photography, check out Mike’s website… Mike and Kim Photography!

That is what National Preparedness Month is all about…being prepared to survive a disaster!

Do we have a plan? No not really. We have a stash of canned food and some other non perishable items, but they wouldn’t last long. Maybe a week if we rationed them out.

Some people go to extremes and have bunkers in their backyard with many years worth of food and equipment to grow their food underground, but that is a bit much for most people.

First you need to prepare the essentials:

• Food – Non perishable items such as canned foods
• Water – Have a few gallons of water tucked away
• Warmth – blankets, hats/coats/gloves, and extra clothing

Next you should prepare the things that will help you survive once your needs are met:

• Flashlight w/ extra batteries
• First Aid Kit
• Medication
• Personal Hygiene items
• Extra cash
• Baby supplies – Diapers/wipes/formula
• Can opener
• Multi-purpose tool w/ knife
• Matches
• Duct Tape
• Scissors

Are you prepared?

Sentry Safe is working hard to make sure your important belongings are kept safe in the result of a disaster. They have many varieties of safes for many different situations. They sent me two safes to review and give away on DadThing to help promote Disaster Preparedness Month. We will give away one on 8/27 and then another in October.

This months give away is the Sentry Safe Big Bolts Safe…

This safe is meant to keep your stuff secure from fire (can withstand 1700 degrees for 1 hour), water, and prying fingers. It has a combination lock and the door is securely held shut by four massive bolts.

Inside there are adjustable shelves and the door has key hooks and a few pockets for your smaller valuables.

This thing is a tank! The walls are close to 3 inches thick. I thought about seeing what it would take to break into this thing and when I opened the box I realized I do not have the equipment or fire power it would take to crack this thing open! This safe is built tough and it makes me feel good knowing that my most valuable possessions are safely tucked away inside and will survive a disaster if one arises.

So, thanks to Sentry Safe I am on my way to becoming more prepared. At least my valuables will be safe!

The Give Away!

The give away is an easy one. Simply leave a comment down below and list something that you have (or would put) in your Disaster Preparedness Kit that I did not mention above.

I will keep the give away open through August 31st and announce a winner on September 1st. The winner will be drawn at random from a pool of other participants.

So what are you waiting for? Leave your comment below to enter to win a Sentry Safe Big Bolts Safe valued at almost $300!

Disclaimer: Sentry Safe sent me this safe for free to review and give away on Dadthing.com. However the opinions expressed here are my own.

I had to go through a few training sessions to prepare me for what I was getting myself into.  These kids, age 7-11,  have been neglected and abused…physically, mentally, and sexually.  I will be honest…I was a bit nervous to go there tonight.

My kids are fairly well behaved.  I do not have experience with kids who do not listen, who act out just because they want to, and who are on medication to keep them stable.

I arrived in the evening just after dinner and then we all headed outside to play some basketball…

I noticed this one little boy who was trying to play with the other kids and they wouldn’t let him.  He has something wrong with his back/shoulder.  A bulge of some kind.  Not sure what it is, I didn’t ask.  Eventually he worked his way over to another hoop and was playing by himself.  So I went over and played with him.  He was an awesome little guy and we had a blast.  For having something wrong with his shooting arm he was nailing baskets left and right.  He made way more than I did.

I few minutes later another little boy came along.  His name was James.  He asked if he could play, and I said yes.  The other groups wouldn’t let him play either.  He was so excited that he was being accepted into our little game of Make It-Take It!

At the end of the night after all of the kids had their showers James came running up to me, jumped up,  put his arms around my legs, and gave me a big hug.  He looked up at me, still squeezing my legs and said, “Thank you so very much for playing basketball with me!  Can we do it again tomorrow?”

And then I realized that that simple game of Make It-Take It was more than just a simple game of basketball for James. It was the feeling of acceptance.  The feeling of self worth…because someone cared enough to catch his air-balls, praise him for the ones he made, run after the missed shots, and actually give him the ball back.  I’d almost bet that has never happened before…

Makes me happy to think that a regular ole’ guy like me, spending 20 minutes with James on a basketball court, made his day!  But sad to think that is all it took…

However, I hope to change that…

Today we broke free from the norm and decided to take a ride in the wagon down to the local school to play on the playground!  Good time had by all.  I took a few pics to share.  For those of you that have not seen Ace and Valerie for a while…they have grown up a bit. 

Ace On The Move! The kid only holds still when he is sleeping...

Valerie having fun!

Ace Scoping Out The Playground!

Valerie scaring me to death on the 10 ft high playground equipment!

Ace still on the move!

Valerie enjoying the green grass in the back yard!

It’s actually pretty simple.  You browse the selection on the screen, pick your movies/games, and proceed to checkout where you swipe your credit card.  Movies are $1 per day and games are $2 per day.  Not a bad deal at all!

We went to a local RedBox to rent a Wii game.  The first RedBox kiosk we stopped at only had three Wii games available…and they were all checked out.  XBox 360 had more of a selection, but we do not have an XBox.

So, we went to a second location.  This RedBox had 5 or 6 Wii games available.  The first one on the list was Wipeout 2.  Ace is addicted to that show.  We DVR it and he will watch it at least 50 times before the new one comes out the next week.

We rented Wipeout 1 a while back and it was too complicated.  Even I had a hard time playing it.  But we took Wipeout 2 over to Grandma’s house where Ace and his cousin Olivia could give it a go.  They both picked up on the controls rather quickly and played it for a few hours before the Wii remote batteries died.    Otherwise I think they would still be playing.

We all played the Wipeout 2 game and everyone got a kick out of it!  It was so much like the TV show with it’s replays of your wipe outs and even has John Anderson, John Henson, and Jill Wagner as hosts with their funny commentary!

We were going to use all five free promo codes, but since it was my first rental I could only rent one game at a time.  Also the selection was limited (I’m hoping because it is such a new thing to rent Wii games).  So I will have to continue to check back and rent the four other games and post reviews here as well.

smiley360.com also sent me a free game called Go Vacation.  This game is amazing!  We have played it for hours and only touched the surface of the things you can do.

The whole point of the game is that you are on vacation and can roam around the resorts on your own and do the different activities that you find.  The box for the game says there are over 100 different mini games you can play.

Ace just liked hopping on the four wheelers and jet skis and cruising around the island.  We left the game at Grandma’s house one night and the next day Olivia played it for like four hours!!  We took it back home and she was quite upset that she could not continue to play…so, I think her Dad will end up buying it for her. 

All in all we had a great time.  We got the family together, made homemade pizzas, and played the Wii into the weeee hours of the night.  Much longer than the kids lasted.  I’m pretty sure the adults enjoyed it as much (if not more) than the kids. 

Note: smiley360.com provided me with a free sample game to play as well as five free promo codes to rent games from any RedBox location.  I was not paid to do this review and the opinions expressed are my own.

Since Valerie has been born her and Ace have always had separate baths.   They like to play in the bath tub, so it takes almost an hour to give them both baths, get on the PJs, and get them to bed.

So, I figured I would try and save some time by letting them bathe together.  Even though they are boy and girl, I figured that they are young enough that it would not matter.  There I go figuring again…

So, I wash Valerie first and then move on to Ace.  I’m washing his hair when he lets out a blood curdling scream… “Oooowwwwww!”

“What the hell did I do?”, I think to myself…  Did I scratch him?  Does he have soap in his eyes?

And then I look at Valerie…  She has a handful of Ace’s junk and I am pretty sure she was trying to rip it off!

Ace’s screaming was justified… 

I would occasionally sit out on the deck of my apartment drinking beer (I had a roommate of age to buy it for me) and smoking cigarettes.  I would notice these two girls, especially the blonde one, who lived across the courtyard. They were the social type bouncing from apartment to apartment with all the neighbors having a good time.

Me, I am socially awkward to put it nice.  For the most part I keep to myself and am fine with that.  I could never go up and introduce myself to these girls, and I knew that.  That would have just been a blubbering mess sure to ruin every chance I might have of becoming friends with them.   So I just sat there on the deck, drinking and smoking, and occasionally glancing their way to check them out while trying to work up the nerve to go over and talk to them.

Then one day while sitting there I happened to be reading a PlayBoy on the deck when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.  I thought it must be the neighbor coming up to their apartment, so I rolled the PlayBoy up so that the neighbor wouldn’t see what I was looking at and then label me as some perv or something.  As I look up it was those two girls.  Oh great!!  Now what do I do!

I just sat there and took another puff off my smoke to try and look calm and collected and to draw their attention away from the nudie magazine.  Maybe they are going to visit one of my neighbors and I will not have to embarrass myself trying to have conversation with them.  Oh man, they are headed my way!  Now what!  What do I say?  My gut twisted from the nervousness.

As they walk up I noticed their smiles and their confidence.  They were on a mission…

The conversation (or lack thereof) went something like this…

Them: “Hi, what’s your name?”
Me:  “Jared”
Them: “What are you doing?”
Me: “Nothing”  (One word answers were all I could muster up.)
Them:  “What are you reading?”

And the blonde one came over and grabbed the rolled up magazine out my hand.

The Blonde One: “Wow, you smell good!  What is that smell?”
Me: “Brut”

The Blonde one opens the magazine…

The Blonde One: “A PlayBoy!”

…and she starts flipping through the pages.

I was waiting for her to be disgusted, for her to throw the magazine in my face, and for them to storm away, but they didn’t!  They just giggled…  WTH?  These girls are pretty cool!

They continued asking me questions, and I continued giving one or two word answers. 

Over the next few days we talked and partied a little bit and got to know each other pretty well…me and The Blonde One that is.

Things progressed and eventually I took her out on our first date to somewhere a poor college student could afford…Burger King and the movies. 

Step ahead four years later, September 7th, 2002.  I stood on the alter with The Blonde One in front of all our family and friends.

I never will forget how beautiful Momma looked in that dress walking down the aisle.  How I held back the tears, and how her smile glowed..even through the veil.

I never will forget being nervous saying my vows, but how holding her hands in mine gave me more confidence than I had ever had.

I never will forget how the Priest called us by the wrong names….and how we laughed about it later. 

I never will forget the reception where everyone was sloppy drunk, there was almost a fight, and people were falling down on the dance floor in their dresses….and how we laughed about it later.

And I sure as hell will never forget the wedding night!!! 

Well, it is exactly 10 years later and I am still happily married to my best friend!!!  We have two amazing kids and I would never ask for it to be any different!  If there is one thing that I could always count on over the past 10 years, it is the fact that no matter what random shit life threw at me that day, Momma would ALWAYS be there, waiting for me with her arms wide open.  She’s my rock and I’ll gladly admit that!

Happy 10th Anniversary Momma!

I will forever be grateful that you came over to talk to me that day and saw me for who I am, even through my nervous one word answers.