Read Along Apps for Kids - Story Chimes

Do you remember as a kid, reading books along with audio cassettes, and when you heard the chimes, that was your signal to turn the page?

Yes, now there is an app for that too!

Story Chimes are individual apps of stories that you can download for free, or for $.99, download an ad-free version. There are a couple of stories just in time for Christmas- Twas the Night Before Christmas and The Very First Christmas.

Other stories include classics like Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs, Cinderella, Jack and the Bean Stalk, and many more. I don't mind the free version with ads, but it may be annoying if your child keeps selecting them and going to that page, interrupting your story.

These stories include the option of actually reading the book, or read along (with chimes to indicate turning the page). The stories are complete with music, illustrations, and very animated storytellers (the voices of the three little pigs are quite fun). When the chimes ring, just select the orange arrow to the right, and continue the story. You can also bookmark where you leave off, go to the Page Index to search for a page, and change the language from English to Spanish.

My two year old daughter loves these stories, and it only took her one story to catch on that she is to turn the page when she hears the chimes. It's a great way to read along with your kids if you are away from home, or use it as a convenient library to download free stories to your phone.

Visit their website to learn more about all of the different stories and features of the apps: http://www.storychimes.com

This app makes me muchappier.

My 5 Must-Have Apps

I download a lot of apps to try-out and share with moms, but there are 5 apps that I never delete, and use on a daily basis. Here are the apps that I would recommend to anyone who just purchased a smartphone for the first time, and don't know where to start. Oh, and they are all FREE:

1.  Facebook: do I even need to explain this? Go directly to your Facebook account with this app, and update status, read newsfeed, upload photos or video, or search for friends. Get app now. 

2. Weatherbug: I love being able to check the weather instantly on my phone. I can also see a 7-day forecast, see the weather of a destination I'm traveling, receive alerts when severe weather is coming, and check radar to see how far away a storm is from my location. Get app now.

3.  Netflix: To use this app you must be a member of Netflix first, but the app itself is free. This app is such a great tool to have with little ones; distract them in the car, or keep them sitting and quiet at the doctor's office while watching a movie. Plus, I love using it too; I like to watch an episode of the Office while I workout on our elliptical machine during naptime. Get app now.

4.  Pandora: You may already visit Pandora.com to listen to a custom radio station while you are at work, but get this app on your phone to take it with you anywhere. Listen to your favorite band and music similar to them, when at the gym, or just tap right into it when you want some background music while cleaning the house. It automatically links to your Pandora account, so all the radio stations you selected can be accessed on your phone too. Get app now.

5. Google: What better way to search online than Google.com? Get that instant search engine anywhere with the app on your phone. This app also features searches by a photograph you have taken directly from your phone, or speak into the phone and search. Get app now.

These are my top 5. Let me know what's in yours, or maybe let me know what should be my #6.

Best Baby Names App-Stork Drop

 Stork Drop App Review - Free App for iPhone

The Stork Drop App for iPhone is a free app that also makes finding that perfect name for your soon to-be son or daughter a lot of fun. It's almost a game really, and can connect to your Facebook so that your status can be updated with your top five favorite baby names. You know when you're pregnant everyone always asks what you are going to name your baby (and also the dreaded question of "can I rub your belly"), so share with your friends and family names you are considering (sorry, this app can't help with avoiding the belly run, but I'll look into that later...)



You start off the app by inserting your due date, so you have a count down of the amount of time you have to settle on a name. You do have to skip ads in this free app, but I'm not bothered too much by it.

Next a bunch of names drop from the clouds on the screen, and you touch and drag the names you like in the stork bag. Right after you select a name in the bag, the origin, definition and popularity of the name pop on the screen. You then choose if it is a favorite or still a maybe, and continue on.

Once there are no names left that you like, just tap on the cloud to drop some more names. You can see what names you have selected as your favorites by selecting the Favorites tab on the bottom of the screen. In this toolbar, you can also select "Snoop" and see what the highest ranked names are by this apps' users, as well as the most popular names to date. You can also select "Names List" and select famous people's names by list of categories, for example, if you select Athletics, you can then go to Baseball Hall of Fame, and find names of great Baseball starts.

If you just aren't into playing the whole cloud drop to stork's bag game, you can select the "A-Z Names" tab and go through a loooong list of all the baby names by Alphabetical order, and by gender.

This app is great and a fun way to discover new names you never thought of before. It makes me muchappier.

Click here to get the app now

The Simple Portrait Project

Cincinnatians, or those kinda close, be on the look out this Spring for The Simple Portrait Project. What a great and fun experience in getting family portraits taken! Plus, you walk out with your files of the photos you hand-picked on a CD to print and do whatever you want with. It's such a cool and laid-back experience; check it out http://thesimpleportraitproject.com/

Here's some of our photographs:

The Best "Time of the Month" and Fertility App

Platform: iPhone
Fee: Free
Version: 2.0 (iOS tested)

Planning to have a baby? Planning when to schedule a vacation? Always forgetting when your period is supposed to start again? The iPeriod app is a great organization and tracking tool, to store information about your menstrual cycle, and keep it discreet on your phone.

To use the app, you need to record some information about a couple of your past cycles: like when your last period dated, average length of period, and the average cycle length. You are also able to record symptoms, mood, and fertility…fertility details we’ll say. The app also has a alert system so you can receive a notice when you should expect your monthly present.

What makes this app great is the different options to view information about your cycles, which you select on the toolbar on the bottom of the app. You can visualize your cycle from a calendar view, with pink dates as period dates, and green dates as fertile days. From the calendar view, you can also make notes about how you’re feeling throughout the month, and find patterns as to when you can expect a PMS day, and try to avoid taking that out on your significant other….

For me, I would feel slight cramping and nausea in between my periods, and I was curious to see if my symptoms came back the same time each month. Upon using this app, I realized that my body was reacting to the time when I was ovulating. I also am aware that a couple of days before my period, I usually get a headache, so when I feel it coming on, I can take a quick look at the app, and know that the big P is coming. As I have my period, I record symptoms I’m feeling each day, and how long my period lasts, to keep the information current when the app factors my averages in length of cycle and length of period.

The next couple of viewing options also are very helpful: you can select the Summary tab and see your averages, like duration, and next expected period, along with the details of your last periods.

Here’s the great viewing option for all you planners out there, the "Next 12" tab. This projects your periods out for an entire year; great for when you want to plan a vacation, wedding, or any occasion where your period will totally cramp (no pun intended, well never mind, intended) your style.

I love this app, and I feel more in tune to my body because of it. It’s free so no harm in trying it, and there is also a Ultimate version that cost $1.99, where you can connect in forums and community and have more options in recording your symptoms and customizing your calendar to your design taste. 

Exercising with Your Kids

Here's a great video on how to have fun with your kids, and get some exercise too.

http://bit.ly/aTf7c5

The Holidays are Coming, The Holidays are Coming; The Best eCard App Results

It’s the holiday season, and time for those infamous holiday cards with pictures of your family all dressed up, in matching cheesy sweaters....

Considering sending ecards this year? I downloaded a sampling of greeting card apps and wanted to share the best apps for sending holiday cards this year, as well as a couple of the worst.

Honorable Mentions

American Greetings app for iPhone, iPod, and iPad: This app provides a wide and ever-growing variety of cards to choose from tackling categories such as holidays, sympathy, birthday, congratulations, love, etc. The best feature of the app is the capability of sending video cards, cards that you can personalize, or your creation using stock images/stickers or uploading your own photos.  There is so much to explore with this app; it’s a lot of fun to practice the features and send “just because” cards out to your friends (believe me, in doing this study, I sent quite a few to my husband to test out). It’s only $.99, and you don’t have to pay any fees for as long and as often as you use the app.

Get the app here

Frame Wiz for iPhone:  This is where the modern Christmas card comes in to play. You can still take that cheesy family picture if you would like, but why not upload it and insert it in a decorative frame through the app, to send out to all of your friends and family’s inbox? Save on print, postage, and time! The images used in the app are high quality photos. This app also allows you to share your card creation on facebook and twitter. This app is $.99.

Get the apps here

Duds

Hallmark app for iPhone: Not only does the Hallmark app not have nearly as many cards to choose from as American Greetings, they lack video cards, quality, and personal creation of cards. Also, the big kicker is that though the app is free, you have to pay  $.99 for each time you send a card.

D’cards for iPhone: This app just doesn’t work, and looking at the comments on the iTunes page for the app, others have written in saying the exact same thing-it doesn’t load to your phone. Good thing it was free…

Let me know if I missed a greeting card app that you think is great. I’m always up for re-reviewing so that the most accurate information is always presented.

Have Trouble Remembering Names? Namecatcher App Will Fix That

App Name: Name Catcher

Platform: iPhone

Version: 1.2

Fee: $.99

Get this app now

Have you ever had someone come up to you and start a conversation, and for the life of you, you couldn’t remember his or her name?  If you have a hard time remembering people’s names you meet, plus trying to remember where you know someone from, the NameCatcher app is a great little assistant on steering you clear from that awkward situation.

The name catcher app allows you to enter in a person’s name, label that person with a category of how you know them, i.e. around town, business, on vacation, restaurant/bar, etc. You can also give yourself a hint as to what connection you had with that person, and also if you wan to put them on your “A” list of people to stay in contact with.  You also have the capability to take someone’s picture and upload it to this profile (of course when you don’t think that would be weird for the other person).

When I first started diving into this app, I thought, yeah this is great, but when I’m at a social event, I don’t have time to just enter in all this data into my phone. There’s a feature that diverts this issue: a recording option. Just record yourself saying the person’s name, contact info, and what connection you made, and then go back in and create an account for them later.

Lastly, there is also an option to save this account to your phone’s contacts, which also keeps you from doing double duty work of re-entering someone’s info in your contacts.

This app makes me muchappier! 

Get this app now

Fun App for Toddlers; Peekabo Wild

App Name: Peekaboo Wild
Platform: iPhone 3G
Version: 1.0.2
Developer: Night & Day Studios, Inc.
Fee: $1.99


Peekaboo Wild is a fun and cute app for toddlers. The app is a simple peekaboo game where your child taps on the grass in the African savannah to uncover a hiding animal. An adorable little child’s voice reads the name of the animal out loud, while it is written on the screen. Then, the animated creature comes to life on the phone.

This app is another great distraction to keep your child occupied while driving, waiting at the doctor’s office, etc. You know when you need a distraction to keep your toddler quiet and busy. This app definitely steals my daughter’s attention, and I love watching her smile and laugh when she discovers what animal is hiding in the grass.

Click here to get this app.

Healthy Recipes App to Feed Your Family

App Name: Healthy Recipes
Platform: iPhone 3G
Version: 1.0
Developer: Spark Recipes
Fee: Free

Click here to get this app now

If you’ve added a few more pounds around your mid-section or just like to feel good about what you eat, the SparkRecipes App is a good app to have on your phone.

When selecting the app, it instantly takes you to a search page, in which you can type a keyword search, or browse by category: course, cuisine, dietary needs, and occasion. I think this app wins especially in the dietary needs category. I myself don’t restrict myself to a certain diet (I’m an equal opportunity eater), but for those that are diabetic, vegans, or low-carb fanactics, you can find recipes by selecting these browsing criteria. If you’re aiming to cook with a specific ingredient, the keyword search will get the recipe scouting job done.

The app also features a Favorites tab, where you can save the dishes you want to reference. This app also features videos of the SparkRecipe’s Chef Meg making some of the recipes; a ‘how-to’ approach with tackling some of these recipes. Not only that, there are videos on common techniques used in cooking like how to zest citrus, prep your kitchen, and how to poach an egg-really handy for those just starting out in the kitchen.

Once you’ve selected an interesting recipe, you go to a page where it lists the ingredients needed. You can select the Directions tab to get instructions on how to create your chosen delicacy. Then, the important part; it gives the nutrition information of the meal. Looks just like the nutrition information box on the items you buy at the grocery store. This is a great feature, and allows you to check to make sure that what you are in fact putting in your body is healthy. One word of caution, I wouldn’t just trust that all the recipes are in fact healthy; anything that has a lot of cheese isn’t going to be healthy, regardless if you use skim milk instead of regular milk with it or not.

Click here to get this app now

Restaurant Nutrition App: Keep Your Dieting Goals While Dining Out

Restaurant Nutrition App

Platform: iPhone

Version: 1.47.5

Developer:  Foundation Surgery Affiliates

Fee: Free

This app is great for watching what you eat, while dining out at a restaurant. You can search over 115 popular restaurants nationwide and take a peak at the nutrition facts of the food items on their menus. The Restaurant Nutrition app is useful for when you already know the restaurant you will be dining, or if you are looking for a restaurant.

This app is also a great companion for those who have food allergies, by providing information on what item on the menu could be hazardous. You can also filter the food items by your desired diet determiner: carbs, calories, fat, etc. Just click on the magnifying glass in the bottom right hand corner. Looking at the Search image on the left, you can take a look at how this feature works. For example, you can search for foods that fit in your desired amount of calories for all restaurants, are just a certain one, and a menu category like dinner, salad dressings, desserts, etc.

When you find a restaurant that is compatible to your dieting goals, there is a search option to find the closest location near you. There is also a history tab to quickly look up a restaurant you visit often.  

This app I find to be incredibly valuable for health-conscious people like myself (well some of the time....). I love that it helps keep you informed about the food you put into your body. This app makes me muchappier. 

Click here to get this app now

Want a new iPod? Upgrade your old one at Toys R' Us

Check it out: click here.

Courtesy of CoolMomTech.com

Grocery iQ app for iPhone

There are so many great things about this app, that I could write a forever-long review about them, but I’ll just focus on my favorite things about the Grocery iQ app, and leave you to discover the rest of the greatness yourself.

The Grocery iQ app is the perfect tool to have when you are planning your next grocery visit. It not only helps you create and store your grocery lists, but you can also search for coupons, sort the list by different types of stores you shop at, and sort the lists by categories in the order in which you shop.

What I find most effective is to first search what coupons are out right now. I select the dollar sign tab, and instantly connect to coupons.com. There I search for what coupons I want. I then email them to myself, and can print them off from my computer. You also have the option to print directly from your phone.

The really innovated part is that once you select what coupons you want, it instantly saves those items on your list, and sorts them by category on your list. For example, if you selected a coupon for Huggies diapers, it instantly adds the coupon to your grocery list under the “Baby” category. Looking at the image below, the items on my list that are in blue are coupon items. I must say, this is an awesome feature! You then enter other items onto your list by tapping the plus sign on the top right-hand corner, and start typing in the search bar. The app pulls up suggestions of what you are looking for as you type in the name of the item.

After I created my grocery list, I then sorted the categories in the order I always go through the grocery store. With always having a two year old shopping with me, being quick and efficient is very important to me. When you pick up the item and put it in your cart, you just tap in the white box next to the item and a check mark appears so you can find your place as you go down your list.

The app also has a barcode scanner, and the capability to save commonly bought items, like milk, eggs, bread, etc., in the favorites tab.

This is a great app, and I recommend it to all shoppers. This app makes me muchappier! 

Is the "Ask a Stylist" app the next best thing to having Joan Rivers in your pocket?

I stumbled upon the "Ask a Stylist" App for the iPhone, which was actually written about in an article by the Wall Street Journal online. In a nutshell, you can send a picture of an outfit or ask a question to send to a stylist, and receive feedback in minutes on what you should wear, or their opinion about your outfit. I'm intrigued!

Also, it's free, which surprised me.

I just downloaded it and am playing around right now; I'm kind of shy about actually using it...

This would have been great to have when I was dress shopping for something to wear to a wedding a week ago. It was just me and my two year old daughter shopping (she thinks all dresses are pretty :) ).

Has anyone tried it out? Let me know what you think. I'll provide my feedback soon when I actually try it.

My 2 Year Old Loves This App!

I love it too because I see how much she adores it, and well, I love to color too….who doesn’t?

This app is fun and kinda funny. When you enter the app, you are greeted to some snazzy music that I couldn’t help but sway to a bit. You get a choice of two different coloring books to enter: Ocean Creatures and Farm Animals (They each have different tunes). If you don’t care for the music, you can mute it by pressing the button with the music note on it in the bottom right-hand corner.

 

Next scroll through the different pages to color, and select one. Glide the color choices and pick out what color you want to start off with. Then just tap what area you want to color. It’s really easy and to my surprise, it isn’t tedious to color in small objects. It’s kind of like the paint bucket tool on Paint, but more intuitive, I think. I haven’t experienced many moments when I got frustrated when wanting to color in one area, and instead it colors in another. One drawback however, is that there isn’t an “undo” button to quickly go back if you make a mistake, but hey it’s coloring, not homework.

 

You can also save your work, or easily go back to the menu page to select another page to color. The real feature that wins it for me is that it animates your coloring. Just select the arrow button to “play” your drawing, and watch it come to life. My daughter just giggles away every time she pushes it, and it made me laugh the first I tried it too.

It’s fun. It’s cheap, and it’s also a great distraction when you need to occupy your young child for a few minutes. It also didn’t take my daughter long at all to figure out the buttons, so I would say kids as young as two would enjoy it, and adults too!

Be Green This Halloween - National Costume Swap Day

Be green and save money by participating in the National Costume Swap Day. Check to see if a swap is being held in your area on Saturday, October 9th. Not one in your area, register for a swap. Check it out: http://www.greenhalloween.org/CostumeSwap/find.html

AllRecipes App

Your husband utters those three words that you dread to hear every evening at 5 o’clock…. “what’s for dinner?” Well, this app can fix the mental “cooker’s block” that may come over you when it’s time to fix something to feed your clan.

Whether you’re just trying your hand in the cooking world, or are an experienced so-called chef, you’ll certainly find the AllRecipes.com app helpful when dinner time rolls around, or breakfast, lunch, dessert, or cocktail time too. 

Its main feature is the Spinner. The top row rotates at your fingertips, till you select the type of dish you are looking to make; i.e. main dish, breakfast, appetizer, dessert, etc.

The second row does the same, but in this row you select what main ingredient you have on hand, i.e. beef, pork, vegetable, cheese, fruit, etc.

Lastly, the third row gives you different timing options you have available to make your meal, i.e. 20 minutes, 45 minutes, slow cooker, etc.

Then the magic happens, it instantly filters its many recipes to the ones that meet your selected criteria on the spinner. You search through recipes till you find the one that tickles your fancy and your tongue.

You can also save recipes to your favorites to access again, or be spontaneous and cook up whatever AllRecipes.com has as the featured recipes. In addition, you can search by keywords, like finding recipes on how to make key lime pie for example.

This app has great graphics and many of the recipes have images, which I especially like because it helps in determining how appetizing it will look.

So grab a spatula and an apron, oh, and don’t forget your cell phone or iPad, and get cooking!

This app gets an A in my cookbook. Now, if only it cooked and did the dishes, then I’d give it an A+. It makes me muchappier. 

Mom Maps - Great App for Planning Playdates

This app is great for playdates! It finds the closest parks, playgrounds, restaurants museums, and indoor playareas near you. Select what type of place you are looking for, and the app maps out the places within so many miles of your current location (you can select the number of miles in the settings option).

You can also create an account and view pictures and reviews by other parents who have visited the places listed. There is also an option to add a play place that isn’t listed. I live in Cincinnati, and I didn’t find any indoor playareas come up on my search, even when I extended the miles up to 50, so I plan on adding a few areas that I’ve tested and approved.

One drawback about this app is that it is not covered in all cities: it only includes San Francisco, New York City, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland, Boise, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Albuquerque, Maui, Oahu, and Seattle. The app developers promise that it is continually being updated with new locations, so if your area isn’t covered, check back in a few months. I’ll also blog out updates to this app as well.

      

Overall this app makes me muchappier. 

Best Apps for Busy Homemakers on Blackberry

I also found this article on the "Best Apps for Busy Homemakers" who use Blackberry: http://su.pr/1gyPt9

More Time Moms Family Meals

Looking into the app More Time Moms by Family Meals for the iPhone 3g/g4, iPods, and iPads.

It provides a menu for every day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or just dinner if you prefer) for up to six weeks. Then it gives you a weekly grocery list for the items. Seems really useful when your house has no food, but you have no inspiration on what to get to make for dinners. I think it would be pretty easy to substitute a meal or ingredient out for something you know your family will enjoy better.

The only drawback is that it doesn't provide free recipes on how to prepare the menu and grocery items it provides; it would have been nice to have it all tied together, but I guess you've got to make money somewhere so I understand. Coming soon is the recipe book you can purchase on the ipad or as an ebook for $19.99. However, that doesn't discourage me, because you can easily avoid the cost and just Google the menu for recipes online. Or you could give back to the app if you found it helpful by purchasing the cookbook, plus 5% of all profits go to children's charities which is great.

Still trying it out, and will give it a whirl at the grocery store tomorrow. I'll let you know how it fits budget wise too. Leave me feedback if you've used it.

Here's the website to learn more: http://www.moretimemoms.com/

Hi!

There are a bazillion apps out there and I don't know about you, but I really don't care about all the mind numbing, make your eyes cross, silly games there are to download to your phone. Quite frankly, I don't have the time for that...I'm a mother of a nearly 2 year old, and a wife. I recently quit my job in Marketing to stay at home with my daughter, and work from home on a website with my husband called muchappier.com.

In conference calls with our web developer, I admit that some of the conversation goes right over my head; I'm not very tech savvy in how to set up websites or the lingo used to describe them, but I love finding something helpful, useful, valuable, or maybe just plain funny, that I know other moms like me would really appreciate. So I am on a quest to bring to you specific app reviews that are especially great for moms.

I'm also about to start a community group with a large group of moms, and anything I learn that I feel is of value to relationships, parenting advice, or encouragement for wives, I'll gladly share.

Thanks for tuning in, and I look forward to sharing with all you moms!