Thanks to Legacy Interactive, I had the chance to review the Tuttles Madcap Misadventures. The review came just at the right time as the school holidays just started and I was looking for family friendly games to keep my son occupied for the next two weeks.

This animated arcade-style game is being sold with a first-of-its kind national fundraising campaign benefiting children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses via the Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation (www.starlight.org). Thus, some of Hollywood’s biggest names chipped in to help by lending their voices to it, such as Bob Saget who voices Barry Tuttle, Jamie Lee Curtis is mother Barbara Tuttle, William Shatnar is Vance Shepherd, Ashley Tisdale voices Jess Tuttle and Dominic Scott Kay voices young son Zach. 

The Tuttles is about a vacationing family who tries to bond while traveling to the Alamo.  By flying their mini-van through desert, jungle and even underwater, they had to avoid obstacles and collect goodies along the way. Playing the game reminded me of playing The Mario Brothers way back in my younger days. However, the animation was so much better with the Tuttles. I don’t know about others but it was not as easy as I thought. My son and I were stuck at Chapter 7 and could not get pass that stage even after several attempts. Now, he is enlisting the help of his daddy to see whether we could conquer that stage. One thing’s for sure, we’ve definitely proven that The Tuttles is a game that the whole family can play.

The downloadable PC version of the game (www.tuttlesfamilygame.com) was released late last year and has already garnered a “Kids Game of the Year” award from GameTunnel.com and a 2008 Parents’ Choice Silver Award.  Additionally, The Tuttles is available as a download for the PC and Mac, and there are also Flash, widget and Facebook applications.  Fifty percent of the retail proceeds from game sales and 75 percent of the proceeds from the downloads at www.tuttlesfamilygame.com go to www.Starlight.org.

Here’s your chance to let your family enjoy a wonderful game and at the same time make a difference. Just head over to purchase the Tuttles Madcap Misadventures here and know that you are doing it for a good cause too.

About Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation

When a child or teenager has a serious medical condition, everyone in the family is affected. For 25 years, Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation(TM) has dedicated itself to helping seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities. Starlight’s programs have been proven to distract children from their pain, help them better understand and manage their illnesses, and connect families facing similar challenges so that no one feels alone. Through a network of offices, Starlight provides ongoing support to children, parents and siblings in all U.S. states and Canadian provinces with an array of outpatient, hospital-based and Web offerings. Programs are also delivered internationally through affiliates in Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom. To learn more visit www.starlight.org.

My first born had mild asthma when he was in the toddler stage and it really broke my heart. Even though it was nothing serious, being a first time mommy, EVERYTHING was serious! LOL.

Anyway, he grew out of it but still easily has bouts of sneezing out of the blue which we presumed is caused by airborne allergens and dust. Thus, sometime back, the hubs had decided to get one of those air filter to clean the indoor air so that it makes breathing easier for our son. Being the typical man, he did not do much research (like I would have) before he carted home an air filter. To this day, I can honestly say that little thingy he bought had no effect whatsoever to the quality of air in our home.

That was the reason why I decided to do a little research of my own on this topic. If you are looking to keep indoor air virtually pollution-free, I would recommend that you check out American Standard Heating & Air Conditioning’s AccuClean™ whole home air filtration system. AccuClean can be attached to your existing furnace or air handler, so you don’t need to renovate your home to install it. Once installed, AccuClean removes allergens from the air in every room of the house, as opposed to plug-in air cleaners that operate in only one room.

AccuClean is proven to remove up to 99.98% of allergens and more than 99% of the common flu virus. Standard 1″ throwaway filters and ionic-type room appliances can’t even begin to match that!

Now that spring is here,  it also means the return of itchy eyes, explosive sneezes and also the allergy season. As parents, we cannot help but be concerned about the quality of our indoor air to ensure that allergies are kept at bay. Therefore,  if having a cleaner and healthier home is your goal for your family, do check out AccuClean. Just click the link in this post for access to more information. Don’t worry, it’s not an affiliate link

I remember back in my school days, head lice was a common problem and everyone of us would shun those who have it. Even now, it is not uncommon for school going children to come back with a head full of lice. Now, I noticed not much is written about the lice on parenting websites, so I am posting some facts here for those interested:

 What Are Head Lice?

• Head lice are small parasitic insects, about the size of a sesame seed and live on the human scalp. They are brownish, tan or gray in color and move by crawling.

• Lice do not jump or fly, and do not transmit diseases. They feed on human blood and without it they can’t survive.

• Lice are not known to cause disease.

• Lice infestations are not due to poor hygiene.

• Lice live on people’s scalps, not on animals.

• Lice do not travel great distances on their own and can only survive away from a human host for 48 hours. They crawl from one person to another and are spread by direct hair-to-hair contact. Other means of spreading is from the sharing of combs, hats, helmets, scarves, headphones, pillows or other personal items.

 Detection and Prevention

• Examine the head under bright natural light.

• Part the hair and closely examine the scalp, especially the nape of the neck and behind the ears. Lice will quickly move away from the light.

• To find the eggs and nits, look for small white or yellowish-brown specks that are about the size of a poppy seed. Eggs are found on the hair shaft close to the scalp. Newly laid eggs are almost transparent, so it is helpful to examine the hair from different angles of light.

• To tell the difference between eggs and dandruff, try to dislodge them from the hair shaft. If they are not easily removed, they are probably eggs.

• Check everyone in the family for lice or nits.

• Do not share combs or personal items worn on the head or neck.

• Wash all clothing, bedding and towels used by infested persons in hot water (above 130ºF). Dry items at highest heat for at least 20 minutes. Dry clean items that can’t be washed.

• Disinfect hair products such as combs, brushes, and hair accessories by soaking in hot (above 130º F) soapy water for 5 to 10 minutes.

• Place stuffed toys in plastic bags and seal for 2 weeks.

• Vacuum rugs, carpets, mattresses and car seats thoroughly. Dispose of vacuum cleaner bags immediately after use.

Treatment

Most important of all is the treatment. LiceMD®is a a product favoured by school nurses and health care providers because it is pesticide-free, pediatrician tested and clinically proven treatment for effectively, safely and simply eliminating head lice. The lubricating formula not only eliminates head lice, it allows the patented comb to glide effortlessly through the hair so parents can concentrate on removing lice, eggs, and nits — not on combing through tangled hair. It is SAFE as the primary ingredient, Dimethicone, is used as a conditioning agent in many top selling shampoos and has a well-known safety profile.

Eliminating head lice involves a simple 3 step process as follows:

1. Apply LiceMD® to dry hair, then wait 10-minutes
2. With LiceMD® still in the hair, section and comb hair to remove lice, eggs and nits
3. Shampoo hair thoroughly with regular shampoo and warm water

LiceMD® is sold over-the-counter at food, drug and mass retail outlets and wherever lice treatments are sold.