I'm Baaaaack! ( I think!)

Whew, the past few months have gone by quickly, but not without MANY ups and downs! That's my life though, a roller coaster, and unfortunetly, it seems to always have more downs than ups : (
It seemed like every week I started to get ready to blog again, one of the kids was sick. And of course, they passed it back and forth, forever! Then this week, I finally caught the dreaded flu, and have been in bed all week! My daughters 7th birthday was Wednesday, thankfully, with the help of Dayquil, I was able to be awake for most of it! Today I feel better, I'm hoping by Monday I'll be back to normal!

So, I've got a few giveaways I'll be posting, I hope you enter and spread the word, they're good ones!!!

Check out my Easter Swap goodies!!

Recently, I participated in the Easter Swap thanks to Shannon at The Mommy Files! I love doing these swaps because, not only do I get to shop for someone, but I get to meet another blogger AND get a sweet package myself!
My partner this time was Rebecca from Lovely Hullabaloo! I enjoyed reading her blog to find out a bit about her, and now I hope she enjoys her gifts! She sent me a great package, filled with an adorable bunny decoration, a neat book that isn't pictured, because it's in my car so I can read it while waiting for the kids to get out of school!, Peeps Chapstick that tastes really good : ), cookie cutters and my favorite candy- which I may add is pretty much gone! Those Reeses eggs didn't have a chance, lol!

Thank you Rebecca, I loved everything! I really hope you like your package as much as I do!
And thanks again to Shannon, you do an amazing job every single swap! I can't wait for the next one!

Blockbuster Express! Rental Code Rent 1, Get One Free!

Most nights, I can find something on the Tv, but since most of my shows are not on right now I love to catch up on movies. I hate going to the video store because I have a tendency to forget to return the movies on time and rack up HUGE late fees! So when I found out there was a Blockbuster Express Kiosk right down the street from me, I was estatic!
First, Blockbuster Express has all of the new releases just like a regular movie store does! But, here you're only going to pay $1 a night, and NO late fee's! That's my kind of rental! Second, there are many Kiosks all over the US, so it's probably going to be a quick trip out to rent a movie, instead of waiting and waiting at the video store while you could be at home already watching your movies!

And last, right now you can use the  coupon code is 555G13B, for a Rent One, Get One Free movie! With spring break coming up, the kids are going to be happy picking out movies for our usual Veg-Out Movie day! Hurry though, this code expires March 31st!
I'm enjoying renting movies even more now, because Blockbuster Express takes the hassle out of renting!

Giveaway!!! I won Martina McBride concert tix, and YOU can too! ( Illinois only!)

Thanks to MomSelect, I am the winner of a pair of Martina McBride /Trace Adkins concert tickets AND a Fun pack which includes her CD, a Tshirt, an autographed pic and some fun items from the concert! I am really excited to go, I haven't been to a concert in awhile! I know it's going to be a blast!

But enough about me.... one lucky Illinois reader is going to win a pair of concert tickets AND a Fun pack for themselves! If you live in Illinois, and would like to see Martina McBride in concert at the NIU Convocation Center (Dekalb), on Sunday, March 28th, then start entering now!

This is a quick giveaway, winner will be chosen early Friday morning, so spread the word!

Mandatory entry-
Let me know your favorite Martina McBride song! ( 1 entry)

Extra entries-

1. Subcribe to my blog ( 2 entries)

2. Follow my blog ( 2 entries)

3. Follow me and tweet this giveaway (Leave a link!Can retweet for extra entries)

4. Grab my button (3 entries, leave a link)

5. Blog about this contest ( 3 entries, leave a link)

Giveaway ends 3/19/10! Winner will be chosen using Random.org, and will be notified via email!
Because this is such a short giveaway, winner will have to respond within 8 hours of notification!

Good luck and thanks for entering!!!

Disclosure- I am receiving two tickets to the Martina McBride concert and a Prize Pack through MomSelect. I have received no monetary compensation for this post!

The Slanket Review

I am always cold, and our living room is always freezing! So when given the opportunity to review The Slanket, I was very interested!
We have a TON of blankets, but either they aren't long enough to cover my entire body, or they are so long I get completed tangled up in them! The Slanket is the perfect mix, good length and great warmth. I do have to say, when I recieved it, my husband was a little skeptical, he kept saying, just use a blanket, come on!
Well, I think he actually uses it MORE than I do! So, it's big enough to cover him, it's thick enough to keep me warm, AND when we are using it, the kids use the other end to cover themselves, double duty?!

A bit about The Slanket-
One subzero night in 1998 during my first semester of college I could not escape Maine's winter bite. While watching Late Night with Conan O'Brien I decided I needed to tear a hole in my sleeping bag so I could keep my upper body warm as I channel surfed during the commercial breaks. During Christmas vacation I commissioned the first Slanket to be made by my mother...and it was born.


The Slanket has over 15 prints to choose from, and the also offer Kids Slankets and Travel Slankets, very cool! Slanket is machine washable, made of 100% Polyester Microfibers, and is the best blanket ever : )
 

 
I would definetly recommend checking out The Slanket if you are looking for something to keep you warm, The Slanket has done it's job well!
 

It's time for the Easter Swap!

If you haven't already, please stop by The Mommy Files and check out the Bloggers Easter Swap! I've been participating in these swaps for awhile now, and they are SO much fun! Meeting new bloggers, shopping for gifts, what could be more fun? Well, getting a gift from your partner, I'd say!
So, think about signing up, it's really a great time!

Nicole By OPI Giveaway at Fairy Blogmother!

I love getting my nails done, but I don't always have the money to have them done. So, I do them myself, and I've got TONS of nail polish!
I've always been a fan of OPI nail polish, the colors are great ( and I LOVE the names!), it lasts long and it's priced pretty well. My favorites are Lucky Lucky Lavender, Birthday Babe, and Italian Love Affair! Plus, with as many colors as OPI has to choose from, you're bound to find at least ONE you like!

Here's a chance to win a set of Nic's Sticks from OPI, over at Fairy Blogmother! I'm hoping I win, because these seem awesome! And, they'd also make a nice Easter basket gift for any teenage girl!
Good luck and get your entries in, contest ends Feb.20th!

Loving the Valentines Clearance- Double duty for the goodies!

Of course, by now, you probably know I LOVE the Clearance section of a store, and I really love the Holiday clearances! But, the Valentines clearance is especially fun for me because I go on a hunt, a hunt to find treats and trinkets for my kids Birthday party goody bags! I used to be all about the little junk, and I'd pack in as much as I possibly could into the bags. That was until my son started bringing home bags like that from the parties HE would go to. Of all the junk, we would probably keep 1 or 2 things, and I would junk the rest when he wasn't looking!
So, a few years ago I was hunting thru the Target valentine clearance and I found some 18 packs of sports pencils and erasers, some tattoos, and little boxes of crayons. I put them together with an activity book and WaaLaaa, a goody bag worth keeping! And it didn't cost me 1/2 as much as what I had put together before!
This year, my daughter is in between a Princess party and a Gymnastics party, but I'm pretty sure she'll end up with the Princess party. I picked up Heart shaped bubble necklaces for $.25 each, Lips and Heart pencils for $.08 each, Heart bracelet 16pk for $1, and a 20 pack of mini playdoh for $2! Now I know none of that is exactly "Princess", but 6-7 year old girls?! I don't think they'll mind! If only I could find the Disney activity pads Walgreens had, her bags would be done!
And for my son, he's turning 11, so we have to be a bit more "cool", so we're still working on his! I've got the pencils and tattoos again, and I'm thinking of getting some water bottles from the $1 store to throw all of the goodies inside!
I wish I could become a Kids Party Planner, I would have SO MUCH FUN!

Bloggers Valentines Day Swap!

One of the best thing about blogging, is having the chance to participate in the fun Holiday swaps! Recently I participated in the Valentines Swap organized by the wonderul Shannon of The Mommy Files!
She has organized many swaps, all of which I had such a good time shopping for my partners, and really enjoying the gifts sent to me!
My partner, Alexis, from Running Away? I'll Help You Pack, was my partner is the Christmas swap, and I LOVE having her as a swap buddy! I've been following her blog since I started out, she is great! She finds the coolest presents for me, and I can only hope she likes her's as much as I'm enjoying mine!

I recieved Valentines mashmallows and cake mix (great for making dessert for Valentines day, otherwise I was going to Jello it up!), Chocolate covered pretzels that my hubby got into and devoured 1/2 of them!, Heart shaped ice cube trays that my daughter filled up as soon as she saw them, Heart shaped pancake/cookie cutters and heart shaped sandwich cutter ( I LOVE them!), Valentines socks, some really great smelling coffee for Vday morning.. to go along with our heart shaped pancakes!, and some Demeter Baby Powder perfume, smells SO, so good!
I cannot thank you enough, everything is wonderful, and I cannot wait to use everything on Valentines Day to make it even more special! Alexis, you are awesome and I'm so glad we got paired up again!
And thank you again to Shannon, you are wonderful for organizing these swaps that make the holidays even more fun!

Back from a MUCH needed break

I haven't blogged in awhile, the past month has been a bunch of up's and down's, more down's unfortunetly. Everyone in my family has gotten sick, passed it back and forth for weeks! I think this is the first day I can say we ALL feel ok, aside from my stomach pains of IBS, not fun at all!
But, I'm back and will slowly but surely be getting all of my reviews up, and I also have a few very cool giveaways coming up!

Waffle Maker Giveaway!

Jen at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven, 365 Days of TV-Free Toddler Time, and Mega-Family Blogs is giving away a flippin' waffle maker...

To enter, go HERE!!

Winner of the Fizz Cups Giveaway!

Ok, I forgot about this one! Soooooooo,

Congrats to Karin!  You are the winner of a 4 pack of Fizz Cups! I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

I'll be sending you an email shortly to confirm!

Thanks to all who entered!

Disney on Ice Giveaway at Mama's Money Savers!

My kids are HUGE Disney fans, so going to see Disney on Ice would be an awesome treat for them!
RIght now, Mama's Money Savers is having a giveaway to win 4 tickets to Disney on Ice!
Head over and enter today, giveaway ends Jan.22nd!

And the winners are...

The winners of the Fiber One Gift Packs are...

Renee and Toystory! Congrats, I will be sending emails shortly!

Thanks to all that entered!

Great Clearance going on at Kohls!

With all of the holidays finally over with, I stopped to think for a second and realized I had some Kohls cash that needed to be spent! My initial trip there was going to be to buy a pair of snow boots for myself, but after walking thru the shoe dept., I realized THAT was not going to happen. Pretty much ALL of their winter boots were gone, I guess that's what happens when you live in Illinois and winter has just showed it's very ugly head!
So, I decided to check out the Christmas section, again, no luck, it had been pretty much cleared out aside from some stockings and a few random ornaments! I swear, every year I tell myself I am going to get to these stores right after Christmas, and every year I get there a week later to find nothing! When will I learn?!

I then went to browse the clearance racks, and I'm glad I did! I got my son 2 shirts for $4, my daughter 2 pairs of her favorite "soft, warm" pants for $5 each, the hubby got 2 long sleeved tshirts for $3.80 each, and I picked out a Pumpkin candle for $2.49 and a Chicago Bears shirt for $8! I always look at the cute Bears shirts for myself, but I won't pay $20 for a shirt, so this was a GREAT find for myself!
I ended up paying $3.90 for all these things, and if I had more time, I would have really gotten into the clearance parts, because the clothing is all marked down! They actually have bathing suits out, yikes! It's only 3 degrees here right now, I'm nowhere close to thinking about putting on a bathing suit, lol!

If you can, head over to Kohls and check out what they've got, I bet you find some great deals like I did!

General Mills Cereal- Less sugar, Healthy kids!

Let's face it, most mornings with my kids is pretty hectic! By the time they're up and fully functioning, I don't have the time I'd like to make a nice healthy, hot breakfast! So, we reach for the boxes of cereal, it's quick and easy, and I know they won't be at school starving until snack time. I try to get some of the healthier cereals in them, but they love their Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Trix. My ONE lucky cereal is Cheerios, both kids love it and I'm happy to sprinkle on a BIT of sugar knowing it's a great cereal!

Well, now I'm very happy to say that General Mills is commitment to further reduce sugar in cereals advertised to kids under 12 to single digit grams of sugar per serving! Now picking out a cereal will be much easier on my mind AND the kids will be happy that they can still each their yummy tasting cereal, and it's even healthier!

I had vowed that I would NEVER make my kids eat gross, bland, cardboard tasting cereal, and I'm so glad that I can STILL keep my vow : ) We've tried the Lucky Charms and Trix with less sugar, and the kids are still gobbling it up as usual!
Another added benefit is getting in the Whole Grains and added Fiber needed! My daughter has some issues and needs the extra fiber, so again, I'm thankful to find it in a food that she will eat at any time!

Did you know that ready-to-eat cereal eaters consume less fat, less cholesterol and more fiber than non-cereal eaters? Cereals also deliver important vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients, making cereal a top source of key nutrients in children’s diets.


Other cereal benefits:

Ready-to-eat cereals, including presweetened cereals, account for only 5% of sugar in children’s diets.

Ready-to-eat cereal is the No. 1 source of whole grains in a child’s diet today.

More frequent cereal eaters tend to have healthier body weights and lower Body Mass Index measures.

Studies also demonstrate the benefits of eating breakfast. A 1998 study showed that children who eat breakfast tend to perform better at school. Compared to children who skip breakfast, children who eat breakfast score higher on tests, are less likely to miss class or be tardy, have fewer reported discipline problems, and make fewer trips to the office.


For more information about kids and cereals, please visit Cereal Health and Wellness.

Want to try it out yourself? Well, here's a $1 off coupon to get you started! Please try General Mills Less Sugar, not only for yourself but for your kids, you won't regret it!



*All information and free cereal coupons were all provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.