Sam's Club Back To School Giveaway Winner Announcement

Hi everyone! I am so excited about the turnout for my Sam's Club Back To School Giveaway. We had 433 wonderful entries! I used randomizer.org to chose my winner and the lucky number was 55. I have emailed them and they have claimed their $25 gift card to Sam's Club.

I want to thank you for taking the time to enter this giveaway. Thank you also to Sam’s Club, General Mills and MyBlogSpark for allowing me to host this great giveaway.

New Upcoming Review for CSN Stores

I am excited to announce an upcoming review for CSN Stores. We have just moved into a much larger home and there are so many items that we still need to purchase, especially a new dining table. I plan on spending hours looking over the 200 different websites that make up CSN Stores. Shopping will be a breeze in the comfort of my own new home! I plan on searching for great prices on a new dining table, office chair, home decor, and even housewares. The products at CSN Stores are endless and the prices are great too!

Disclosure: I will be receiving an item of my choice valued at $35 or less so that I may conduct an honest review of CSN Stores products and service.

10 tips for planning a unique baby shower

Tiny Prints and TwitterMoms have teamed up for a fun new blogging program! They have asked me to share 10 tips for planning a unique baby shower. You may read more about that request here.

A new baby is always exciting for both the new parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends and others who are close to the new mom and dad. I feel that a baby shower is a great way to show the new parents your love and support and it's a great way to welcome the new baby into the world.

Baby shower's are fun to plan and attend. I like to make them fun by:

1. Choosing a theme: Themes are fun and can help guest choose a gift for the new little one. I like to base a shower theme on the gender of the baby and on the decorations of the newborn's nursery.

2. Invitations: Choose an invitation that revolves around your shower theme. This is a great way to let the guest know the theme of the baby shower. Tiny Prints is a great place to find invitations online.

3. Snacks: Light party snacks are a must! We all know that the mom to be is eating for two so we must let her induldge just a little.

4. Cake: All baby showers need a cake! This is a fun way to reveal a boy/girl to the guest. You can color the cake pink or blue and ice it any way that you want to. When the cake is cut it will reveal the gender of the baby to the guest.

5. Games: Games are my favorite part of the baby shower. You can find some really great baby shower games online. My favorite baby shower game is the poop game! Upon guest arrival, you pin everyone with a little felt diaper. Towards the end of the party you ask the guest "who has the poopy diaper?" It's fun to watch everyones expressions as they see if they have the poop or not.

6. Prizes: Prizes are fun too! I like to give the game winners 2 prizes. They get to keep 1 and they give the other baby related prize to the mom to be. This is a bonus gift to the new mom from the host.

7. Pictures: I like to take lots of pictures at the baby shower. It's a great way to start a memory book for the new child. They can later see their mom with the guest and know that the party was for them before they were even born.

8. Party Favors: All parties need favors! I like to make party favors that relate to the gender of the new baby. These can be fun and inexpensive.

9. Thank you notes: Be sure and send the host and guest a thank you note!

10. Put your feet up and relax: Parties are supposed to be fun. Yes they are a lot of work and planning too but remember to put your feet up and enjoy the party also.

What are your tips for planning a unique baby shower?

About Tiny Prints:

Tiny Prints helps you get together, keep in touch and share your love—one little card at a time. Tiny Prints was started in 2003 by three friends and a dream. With a shared a love of babies and an affinity for beautiful paper. They set out to create a stationery company that would offer the experience of a local boutique with the ease of an online retailer. Specializing in the celebration of all of life's special occasions, they're thrilled to offer a fresh selection of exclusive designs, from birth announcements and baby shower invitations to personal stationery and more. Tiny Prints baby shower invitations are found here: http://www.tinyprints.com/baby-shower-invitations.htm .


Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Tiny Prints blogging program, making me eligible to get a Tiny Prints gift code worth $50, plus 25 FREE Tiny Prints greeting cards—a total gift value of $149.75! For more information on how you can participate, click here.

5 simple things you can do to keep your child's smiles healthy and bright

Trident and TwitterMoms have teamed up to bring us another new blogging program. They have asked that I share five simple things I can do for my children to keep their smiles healthy and bright. You can read more about that request here.

I have 2 children, a 10 year old and a 6 year old. I try to keep their smiles bright and healthy by:

1. brushing: I make sure that they brush their teeth twice a day. They brush after breakfast and before bed.

2. flossing: I have been told that even younger children can floss their teeth even if there is space between them. This teaches good habits that will stay with them.

3. nutrition: I try to limit sugary drinks and I encourage them to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.

4. sugar free gum: I will let my children chew sugar free gum when they ask for candy.

5. rinsing: I often have my children rinse their mouth with water after we dine out. This helps to flush away the extra food that is trapped in their mouth and it reinfources healthy mouth habits.

How do you ensure that your children have a bright and healthy smile?

Disclosure: “I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Trident blogging program, making me eligible to get a $25 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

The New Fracture Product

Fracture has teamed up with twittermoms and offered me a great new product to review. You may read about that here.

I am excited to try the new Fracture product. We have recently moved into a larger home and our walls are bare. This is a great opportunity to try a new product and to decorate my home at the same time.

Fracture is changing photo home decor. They have a new one-piece picture and frame made from printed glass that mounts to directly to your wall quickly and easily. Fracture is the fastest, easiest, best way to get your pictures from your camera to your wall. Fracture's introductory product lets you print your digital pictures right onto glass! There's no paper or film involved, only ink and glass. They have effectively combined printing, framing, and mounting into one simple process. You simply upload your photo to FractureMe, they print it on glass, and send it on it's way with everything you need to mount and display it. It's a one-stop, complete photo decor solution.

Fractures are very safe: all sharp edges are removed. They are completely okay to touch and handle. Fractures are durable. The prints are shatter proof (unlike traditional glass frames), and the images will not fade for years beyond average prints. Fractures are very practical and elegant. You can use them for any occasion. Fractures are for everyone, from avid photographers to snap happy point-and-shoot lovers, anyone can get Fractured!

Disclosure: If I am among the first 100 participants in this blogging campaign I will be writing a follow-up post about Fracture with my feedback after testing it out.
I wrote this blog post in response to a TwitterMoms RAMBO alert, making me eligible to get a Fracture picture frame for review. You can learn more about Fracture at http://www.fractureme.com.

Five of My Favorite Family Time Ideas

LEGO® and TwitterMoms have teamed up to bring me a fun new blogging program! They have asked me to share five of my favorite family time ideas with my readers.

I am a stay at home mom of a 10 year old boy and a 6 year old girl. They are at fun ages because they still enjoy simple yet fun activities.

My top 5 favorite family time ideas are:

1. Go to the park. We love going to the park during the summer and on the weekends. It's free and playing outside encourages exercise too.

2. Movie night! We love to eat pizza and watch a movie at home. This is a fun way to get together and just relax and have fun.

3. Dinner out. We like to dine out once a week. This is a great excuse for me to not have to cook and it's fun to chill out and talk while we wait for our food.

4. Football games. We like to go to my son's football games on the weekends. We all love to cheer him on as he tries his best.

5. Swimming. We enjoy spending time at the city pool during the summer months. It's a great way to unwind and to spend a hot summer day.

What are your top 5 favorite family time ideas?

Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and LEGO blogging program, making me eligible to get a prize pack. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

"Keeping Cool in School" Prize Pack Giveaway Winner Announcement

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to enter my "Keeping Cool in School" Prize Pack Giveaway. I am happy to announce that we had 226 entries. Entry number 212 is our lucky winner. They have responded to my email and claimed their prize.

I do have another great giveaway going on right now too. You can enter for a chance to win a $25 gift card to Sam's Club. This is a part of their "Back to School" promotion.

Thank you to myblogspark.com for this great opportunity.

New Avocado Dress-Up Kid’s Site and Coloring Contest

Starting August the 16th, kids can enjoy a fun and creative online game called Avocado Dress-Up with the Avocado Amigos.  Kids can design Al and Ava’s new look with funny facial features, glasses, hats and other playful accessories. They can play again and again and print out their artwork in black and white or color if they choose.

While you are on the site, parents can enter the art colored by their child into an Avocado Dress-Up coloring contest to win one of three prizes by uploading their masterpieces to the site!

Parents and little chefs can always find yummy recipes for after school snacks and meals featuring healthy and kid friendly Avocados From Mexico.

Disclosure: I wrote this blog post at the request of Avocados from Mexico, making me eligible to get a $25 iCARD gift card.

2 Lucky Winners Have Been Chosen By Random.org

I have used random.org to choose my lucky winners tonight.



My Anti Monkey Butt Powder Review and Giveaway ended with 60 comments and winner is lucky number 25. They have responded to the winning email notification and claimed their prize.



My Penguins of Madagascar Giveaway ended with 143 comments and the winner of it is lucky number 15. They have responded to the winning email notification and claimed their prize.

Thank you to the sponsors for allowing me to host these wonderful giveaways for you. Also a HUGE thank you to the people who took the time out to enter these great giveaways. I do have 2 other wonderful giveaways going on right now. Please feel free to enter them also and good luck!

Sam's Club Back To School Review and Giveaway CLOSED

I am a member of MyBlogSpark and they have teamed up with Sam's Club to offer me this great review and giveaway opportunity.

My family and I enjoy shopping at Sam's Club. I have been a member there for many years and we enjoy each shopping experience. I love that Sam's Club has a wide variety of products that we use and they also offer competitive prices on them. I really like that Sam's Club offers my favorite Box Tops for Education brands at a good value. Sam’s Club is my destination for most of my back-to-school supplies.

Your local Sam’s Club maybe hosting a back-to-school event from Aug. 11 through Aug. 31 this year. This is a great opportunity to earn more box top cash for your school. At the Sam’s Club Back-to-School event, you can get a head start on your box top collection and find 6 Box Tops on participating General Mills products.

In addition, Sam’s Club is giving you the opportunity to earn even more Box Tops when you upgrade to a “Plus Membership” from Aug. 6 – Aug. 13, or while supplies last. Simply visit the Member Services Desk of your local Sam’s Club and upon payment for your Plus Membership, you will receive a certificate for 150 Bonus Box Tops! For more information on how you can take advantage of the Back-to-School event at Sam’s Club, visit www.samsclub.com today!

I have been provided with an opportunity to giveaway a $25 Sam's Club gift card to one of my readers. The entry rules for my giveaways are always simple so this one will be too.

Mandatory Entry:
Follow my blog publicly and leave a comment below. Please include your email address in the comment so that I may contact you if you are the winner.

Extra Entries:
1 extra entry: Follow me on twitter and comment below with your twitter name.

1 extra entry: subscribe to my rss feed and comment below.

1 extra entry: Tell me which General Mills Box Tops item you would like to purchase during the Sam’s Club Back-To-School Event in a comment below.

1 extra entry: Name your must-have item that you’ll be purchasing from Sam’s Club this back-to-school season in a comment below.

1 extra entry: Follow me on facebook networked blogs and leave a comment below.

3 extra entries: Tweet this giveaway and leave your tweet link below. You may use my twitter button at the bottom of this post to tweet easily. Please include #myblogspark in your tweet.

5 extra entries: Post my giveaway on your blog and leave a link to your post in your comments.

5 extra entries: Subscribe to my email (top left corner of my blog) and leave 5 additional comments below.

Thank you for visiting my blog! This giveaway will end on Sunday, August the 29th, 2010 at 11:59 pm central time. I will choose a winner shortly after that and notify them by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification. If they fail to claim the prize in that time frame then I will choose another winner.

Disclosure: The Sam’s Club Plus Membership, gift card, information, and giveaway were all given to me from Sam’s Club and General Mills through MyBlogSpark. I didn't receive any other compensation for my post.

"Keeping Cool in School" Prize Pack Review and Giveaway CLOSED

I am a member of MyBlogSpark and they have teamed up with Yoplait to offer me this great review and giveaway opportunity.



It is back to school time and it's time to start thinking about school clothes, school supplies and even lunch boxes. I like to send a lunch to school with my children because it's more cost effecient and I know exactly what they are eating for lunch. I try to offer them a good variety of healthy foods in their lunch boxes daily. I use whole grain bread, low fat meat and 100% juice or bottled water. To change things up a bit I will add a piece of fresh fruit or a frozen Yoplait Go-Gurt to their daily lunch menu. I will put the juice and the Go-Gurt in the freezer on the night before they are needed. The following school morning I will put them directly into their lunch boxes and by lunch time they are thawed enough to enjoy. Go-Gurt (and Simply... Go-Gurt) is specially made to freeze and thaw. It keeps the yogurt, and the rest of their lunch, cool until lunch time.

I feel good about packing Go-Gurt each morning because each portable tube contains a good source of calcium and vitamin D. It also provides a wholesome addition to a well-balanced lunch. Yoplait Go-Gurts are available in a variety of fun flavors like Strawberry Splash and Chill-Out Cherry.

I have been given the opportunity to share a printable *coupon for $0.85 off one box of Yoplait Go-Gurt yogurt with my readers. You can visit http://www.myblogspark.com/uc/main/b4ce/ to download it today! Please note that *this coupon offer for free Go-Gurt is not valid in some states, including California, Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, North Dakota and Tennessee.



MyBlogSpark and Yoplait Go-Gurt sent me a coupon for a free sample of Go-Gurt* as well as a "Keeping Cool in School" prize pack that included an insulated lunch tote, mini water bottle, sandwich keeper, cool breeze pen fan, and some fun school supplies for the new school year. They are also providing me with another prize pack to give away to one of my readers.

One of my readers will receive the same prize package that I received. The entry rules for my giveaways are always simple so this one will be too.

Mandatory Entry:
Follow my blog publicly and leave a comment below. Please include your email address in the comment so that I may contact you if you are the winner.

Extra Entries:
1 extra entry: Follow me on twitter and comment below with your twitter name.

1 extra entry: subscribe to my rss feed and comment below.

1 extra entry: Tell me how do you ensure that your children (or you) have a healthy lunch in a comment below.

1 extra entry: Share your favorite flavor of Yoplait Go-Gurt in a comment below.

1 extra entry: Follow Yoplait Yogurt on twitter and leave a comment below.

3 extra entries: Tweet this giveaway and leave your tweet link below. You may use my twitter button at the bottom of this post to tweet easily. Please include #myblogspark in your tweet.

5 extra entries: Post my giveaway on your blog and leave a link to your post in your comments.

5 extra entries: Subscribe to my email (top left corner of my blog) and leave 5 additional comments below.

Thank you for visiting my blog! This giveaway will end on Sunday, August the 22nd, 2010 at 11:59 pm central time. I will choose a winner shortly after that and notify them by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification. If they fail to claim the prize in that time frame then I will choose another winner.

Disclosure: Yoplait provided me with a free product, information, and gift pack through MyBlogSpark. I have not received any additional compensation. The thoughts and ideas listed here are my own.

New Googly Bands Rings and Necklaces

Do your kids love Googly Bands? Mine sure do! Be sure to check out the new Googly Bands rings and necklaces on their website at www.GooglyBands.com . You can also visit the new Googly Bands blog at www.Googlybands.wordpress.com if you would like.

Disclosure: I have won a full set of Googly Rings and Necklaces for participating in this blogging promotion.

Tips for getting your kids ready to go back to school

I am a member of Twittermoms and they have teamed up with Harper Collins and asked that I write about my tips for back to school time. You may read more about that request here.

Can you believe it? It's back to school time already! If your home is like ours, summer means later bed times and no homework. The kids really love this but it makes going back to school that much harder.

I try to get my children excited about back to school time by involving them in the shopping for new school clothes and supplies. We take an inventory of what they have already, then we make a list of what they need. We set aside a day that we can go and get the items that we need. I have found that we all really enjoy a special day that revolves around just them. We usually have lunch out also and that opens up the back to school conversation. I love to hear my children talk about what they miss about school. It seems to give them something to look forward to and to remind them that they really do like school and seeing their friends again.

I have found that my kids behave better during the school year when we have a structured daily routine. I feel that when we have a daily routine everyone knows what to expect out of a day, especially me! To prepare my children for the new school time routine we gradually start going to bed earlier two weeks before school starts. By the time that school starts they should be adjusted to their new bed time. They tend to wake up earlier too after getting a full nights rest and we always start our morning with a good breakfast. That is one routine that we keep regardless of the time of year.

If my children have a hard time winding down and going to sleep earlier then we will read before bed. We enjoy reading together as it provides snuggling time too.

Harper Collins has some great books that help ease the back to school worries. I have found that by addressing these worries and frets with my children, then those concerns can be eased. Reading and talking about school can bring some good hopes to young ones. It will help the class room scenario seem more familiar once they do go to school.


A good book to read for a child entering Kingergarten would be Kindergarten Diary. Annalina has some great tips for this special milestone.

Rules for School is good for older school children. Eleven year-old Alec Greven guides your elementary school kids through the school halls with the tried-and-true school rules he’s collected along the way in Rules for School. Alec covers essentials such as how to work the playground, find the right seat on the school bus, and getting homework done on time.

What are your favorite back to school books and how do you get your children ready to go back to school?

Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms blogging program to be eligible to get a HarperCollins book set. For more information on how you can participate, click here.