Wow, this is one company that knows how to treat their employees. An Illinois company that was recently acquired by a Sweden group decided to (the old employer) treat the staff with a nice Thanksgiving gift. Each member was given their own turkey for Thanksgiving, which is a great gesture, but they weren't expecting the following:

They gave away $6.6 million in year-end bonuses to Peer's 230 employees, decided by a formula based on each worker's years of service.

"My grandfather was always charitable," said Danny Spungen, grandson of Peer founder Nathan Spungen. He said Laurence and Florence Spungen and their four children decided on a bonus formula a year before the acquisition closed.

Wow right? What a great family this was.

source

Labels: $6.6 million bonus, Illinois, thanksgiving gift, thanksgiving treat

You might remember my review last year of the Kajeet Sanyo Kantana, I also LOVED that little phone. Not only was my son able to use it back and forth to school but we were able to try it out during our move. (hubby traveled cross country in a moving van testing it out)

Guess what? I'm now a Kajeet Mom, by this I mean I sell Kajeet phones and this new one I have is a beauty. It's the Red Samsung m300 and I just ADORE the pictures that it takes. Teens will love the text messaging service and the bluetooth feature.

There are many plans to choose from, some starting as low as $4.99 a month. Parents will be able to monitor how much money is in their child's account, how fast they use it, etc. You can find out where the last place a call was received, who they are calling and getting calls from, etc. If you don't want them talking to someone you can even block numbers.

Want one of your own Kajeet? (perfect for Christmas)

FREE New Samsung m300 (with rebate) with $25 AutoRefill Features:
4x
digital zoom camera
Speakerphone
Bluetooth
Parental Controls
Includes $5 of starter airtime for new accounts
Limited Time Offer.
Phone must be purchased, auto refill must be created, and rebate must be
submitted by January 15, 2009. Two monthly auto refills must be completed by
March 16, 2009. Void where prohibited. Offer good only to new customers on
purchases of a new m300 from kajeet.com. Cannot be combined with any other
offer.

Right now if you click on this link, Kajeet you'll get 15% off. Perfect for Black Friday or Cyber Monday. Isn't it? Just for the holidays Kajeet is offering FREE shipping. Hurry! One more bonus once you've signed up drop me an email at homemom3@gmail.com or a comment and I'll give you a promo code to save $10 when you activate your phone!

Labels: kajeet cell phone, kajeet for kids, kajeet mom, kajeet phone, momselect, samsung m300

Delta's Disney Princess, Cars 20 pc Room in a Box on sale for $77.49, Friday 11/28 from 5am -1pm only at TRU, BRU (picture attached)Shop

Sat & Sun at KMART for BOGO 1/2 off on licensed toddler furniture from DELTA -Princesses, Dora, Car

Labels: black friday, delta enterprises, disney cars, disney princess

We just saw Twilight, had to get some Hot Fudge. Happy WW! Did you see Twilight? What did you think?

Labels: mcdonalds, twilight, Twilight movie, wordless wednesday

Lille Punkin' Reviews has a few giveaways for ya:

- $25 GC to Target

- cute Jooble

- 2 Avon products (bamboo reed diffuser, Jillian Dempsey Essential Beauty Palette)

Sweet Figments is having a Blog a Day Giveaway, now you'll have to go by there to find out what is being given away on that particular day. I see candles, journals, earrings and so much more.

Type A Mom is having a 12 days of Christmas Giveaway. Hurry over and see what she's giving away today. Right now it states $390 worth of gifts for preschoolers. WOW!

Kaboodle wish-a-day-giveaway is giving away $25,000 in prizes. It all starts with you making a wish list. Have fun.

Michelle is the new blogger over at Veggie Chic and is starting it off with a giveaway where you get to pick your own art from her collection.

Don't forget mine: $10 Buildabearville bucks and 5 pairs of Joe's Jeans. (1 pair per person)

I have a list of places you can win Boca Beth products, which we LOVE:

- Win four children's masks and DVD

- Win a Boca Beth package

Kailani has a ton of them: - KEEN Footwear - $100 to The Home Depot - $50 to Sugarplum Dreams - $25 to Target & 2 cans of Pledge - Strong Kids Healthy Kids - $20 to Sugarhouse Ink - Mother Ink Tattoos - $10,000 Virtual Currency to Build-A-Bearville Purry Logic

A Ordinary Life is giving away a Baby Alive and Playskool Dance cam Console. Hurry over to win.

Cool Mom's Rule is giving away a NICE Lands' End prize.

Labels: 12 days of christmas giveaway, amazon black friday, black friday giveaway

This past month has been one thing after another, but I realized when things start going right again what I want to do. See, I was inside Walmart this past month and being the holiday season they have everything decorated. The thing that caught my eye though was the Christmas tree with all those wishes on it. This doesn't normally get to me, most of the time I don't stop to read them as I have four kids and want to get in and out. No time to stop, but this time I did and some of me wishes I didn't.

Don't go thinking I'm mean and heartless, instead it is the opposite reaction. As I stood in front of this tree it brought back memories of the past. I remember one year looking out my mother's trailer window as a red corvette pulled up beside it. An elf appeared out the driver's side door and he had a giant red bag in the backseat, quickly he came in and I dashed to my room and hid under the covers. A few minutes later I heard it drive off, I snuck out to the living room to discover he'd left a ton of presents. I'll never forget the toys under the tree that year, Rainbow Brite and her Sprites, Gummy Bear Pals, Poppable and a Miss Piggy ceramic statue. There were others but those were what I remembered. Thinking back it brought a smile on my face, but a frown soon showed as I looked at the tree I read what the wishes were and it wasn't for toys but clothes.

Instead of reading: Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers or some other popular item, these wishes were for "socks so I don't have to wear my brothers, a sweater, pack of socks, underwear, etc" these were true needed items. I really want to just grab that tree and get everything on the list and toys for each child. Toys, which none of them asked for and a book for each. I'm a sentimental person yes but this is just something that really got to me. I will one day do just that, grab the tree and buy everything. Why? Because I will be out of debt and able to afford to do it. I know what I want now and I'm determined to help. This year we did toss in a pack of socks for one child but I want more for them.

Labels: christmas tree, christmas wish tree, wish tree

In honor of the upcoming BLACK FRIDAY, I know a ton of you will be running around for BLACK FRIDAY and I wanted to give one winner a prize. Thanks though to MomSelect for sending me my preview pack.

One lucky winner will get a $10 BearBuck$ gift card. For those that don't know Build-a-Bear has a website online and now your kids can get on and have a ball. The bucks can help bring a build-a-bear you currently have or hope to have, come to life. Wouldn't that be neat?

RULES: Tell me one thing you are secretly wishing for this holiday season. (I have two things, one is a stuffed frog in a jester's outfit, which I have never found and the other is my pink stylish laptop bag)

Deadline: I'll announce the winner on my birthday, November 30th. You have until then to post.

Labels: bearbuck$, bearbucks, black friday, black friday giveaway, build-a-bear

A girl can dream can't she and boy does she like the color pink.

1 Littlest Pet Shop VIP Penguin
2 Fur Real Friends Biscuit My Lovin Pup
3 Littlest Pet Shop Digital Electronic Interactive Organizer Pink (we have the green but she wants the pink)
4 Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Waterproof Digital Camera Pink (she loves pink)
5 Fur Berries Teal with Bonus DVD (pink of course) None as poppables in the 80s
6 Tini Puppini Carrier and Bed by Spinmaster
7 LeapFrog® Leapster® Learning Game System - Green - Pink
8 Holiday Barbie® Doll
9 Nintendo DS Lite Metallic Rose
10 Barbie Mariposa Magic Wings Mariposa Doll
11 Littlest Pet Shop - 10 Pack of Pets Asst 1
12 Littlest Pet Shop Carry Case
13 Littlest Pet Shop Pet Clubhouse

Happy 13 Thursday! Where's your list?

Labels: balletgirl christmas list, fisher-price, fur real friends, littlest pet shop, Thursday Thirteen, wish list

Want to win a pair? Head over to Joe's Jeans Giveaway and enter. BalletGirl LOVES them, they fit moms and kids. Happy WW!

Labels: joe's jeans giveaway

The Life of a Home Mom is having a BIG giveaway thanks to Joe's Jeans. For those that don't know Joe Jeans are the same type that have been seen on one of my favorite actresses, Katie Holmes. Remember her wearing them here? They want every day moms to feel beautiful.

Well Joe Jeans wants to give 5 pairs of jeans away, which is a perfect holiday gift for young or old. That's right while you'll see many adults in them they also make them for the younger crowd. I even had BalletGirl model in a pair. Don't they look cute? Now you too can be stylish and not have to spend a fortune.
According to BalletGirl, when I asked her how they felt on her:

"They feel great and rich. I feel like a movie star."

By the way, when she went to school she told everyone she was wearing $200 jeans and that Katie Holmes had wore them. hehe. I just love her spirit.

Joe's Jeans come in a variety of different styles: Chelsea (leggings), Cigarette (straight), honey (curvy), muse (high-waist), provocateur (petite), rocker (flare), socialite (classic)and twiggy (tall). Celebrities that have worn the jeans: Lindsay Lohan, Nicky Hilton, Oprah Winfrey and even Reese witherspoon.

RULES: With the new release of "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" just released I would like you to tell me one of your favorite memories you have of jeans. You must leave an email to win and respond within 24 hours of my posting the winners or I draw a new winner.

Deadline: December 5th, I'll announce the winners at 8 p.m

Labels: JJ, JJeans, joe's jeans giveaway, Joes's Jeans, Katie Holmes, Lindsay Lohan, Reese Witherspoon

We are closing in on Thanksgiving and I have a few giveaways in store for you here at "The Life of a Home Mom" and listed below. Let me know if you get lucky and win anything.

If you'd like me to host a giveaway or review a product for you (don't ask for it back) send an email to Homemom3@gmail.com

GIVEAWAYS:

Over at A Bookworm(Mom)'s Diary
you can actually win something yummy to eat while you are reading those books, it's Brownie Mix Deadline : Midnight CST of November 25th.

Enter to win A copy of Appreciation Party by Focus Friends Ends on Midnight CST of December 1st.

You can also win the NanaStar book/doll combo, which looks really cute but ends December 8th.

Mommy Reviewed is giving away four Dove White Beauty Bars and a Dove bathrobe but ends December 8th.

She also has a few others, this one you can win The Curse of the Bone Pirates: Nui Island Eco-logical Adventures, there will be three winners. But like all giveaways it must come to an end, sign up before November 27th.

A Book Blogger's Diary is giving away a copy of "Living with the Dead by Kelley Armstrong". There will be two winners but it ends November 27th.

Junk Creation is having a Christmas Giveaway where crafters can win some really neat stuff. This Christmas package is worth $75, so hurry and sign up.

Don't forget if you make a 3 minute video about converting your TV, you can win $500.

Jane over at FilmGecko has a ton of prizes and giveaways for ya this week, most focus on the new movie coming out, "Twilight." First up though, two winners will get 4 DVDs from the 007 series. On to Twilight we go, enter to win an Edward Poster or a Jacob one.

Bizy Mom of 2 Girls is having an Olive Kids giveaway. Hurry over to win.

Blissfully Domestic is giving away MySims Kingdom and MySims PC. My son definitely wants this one so looks like I'll be entering. Hope he wins, he'd like the MY SIMS one since we don't have the DS.

Play Library is giving away 4 Betty Crocker Cookie Icings. Hurry over and read the rules to see how you can win this. You know the kids would have a ton of fun with it.

Kaboodle is giving away $25,000 in prizes, enter in their wish a day giveaway. Don't forget to make that wishlist.

The Diaper Swappers still have their giveaway going on. Enter to win $3000.

There are a ton of prizes to be won over at the WAHM articles website. This is their Saving Christmas Giveaway. Will it save yours?

Labels: giveaways

Are you ready for the Digital TV transition? I'm not and I'm not lieing, I love my tv and just haven't been able to afford the transfer. Until Whiskey Falls told me, I had no clue I could get a government coupon for $40 off. One more thing, looks like I'm not the only one with rabbit ears. Okay, not really but basically what I have. Okay, I guess the $500 I can win but you can win something really nice too. Keep reading. If you can make a video under 3 minutes to convince others to join in on this you could win plasma tv, Blu-ray player and sound system. Want more rules, head over to http://www.CE.org/dtvcontest, but do it by November 23. If you do it let me know here so I can keep track if you win or not. :) This is going to be fun, I may even do it.

Labels: digital tv, digital tv transition, HDTV, whiskey falls

Whether you are a mom or not you've probably sang or heard of "The Wheels on the Bus," but something tells me you've never seen it like this. While searching for yet another nursery song for my two youngest (which I've heard a bazillion times) I came across this video. I could totally watch this over and over. How about you? Does this bring a nice twist to nursery rhymes? Okay, I'm off to listen to more of them now. Hey, a mom's job is never done and she HAS to field everything her child hears or watches.

Labels: nursery rhymes, wheels on the bus

Congratulations to the winner of the Lands' End Fleece, these are really warm.

Redpolkadotgirl

since we are going skiing at Christmas this year, I'd love to get the Women's Angel Boots
1

I've just emailed you, but if you don't get it email me at homemom3@gmail.com.

Labels: lands' end fleece

Will the following please contact me:

My youngest would like the hot stuff lunch box in navy!!! He has to carry his lunch everyday because "the lunchroom food is yucky!!!".
sherri419 at
gmail dot com
# posted by sherri419

please contact me at homemom3@gmail.com, you've WON the Lands' End lunchbox
of your choice. Hopefully he'll get a warm lunch that isn't YUCKY. :)

For the Baskets of Indulgence I need the following three:

Going through the recipes, they had one I stopped on instantly- Chex
Muddy Buddies. It look so good, and tomorrow, when I go to the store, i'm
getting the ingredients and making it for a Halloween snack for me and my
sister!

orchestratenoise0726[at]yahoo[dot]com

We love the traditional chex mix in our home. I also love to make homemade Chex Mix around New Years. It's such a yummy snack and so easy to make!

Thanks for a yummy giveaway!
Chelle

I love original chex mix and the puppy chow. Thanks for the great giveaway.
Chicago Savings

Well the good news is we are getting closer to my two favorite days..., Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Why? I can stock up and getting all those christmas gifts for the kids reduced prices. One of which I won't even have to leave the house. haha. I'm even getting my list ready, too bad Walmart won't release their list until November 24th.

Confused by the title? Well, SoccerBoy was trying out to be one of the Town's Elves, you know Santa's little helpers for the tree lighting ceremony. He was so excited and counted down the days, but darn it they didn't call me to tell me he got it. Now I have to tell him he didn't get the part. :( I really was hoping for him, but we'll figure something out that he can do.

The two younger ones are running in and out of boxes. As ya'll know it is Christmas season and I've already began ordering from Amazon. But now I'm wondering if I shouldn't have just bought a bunch of boxes. These two just LOVE them. Right now a company (for me to review) sent me this HUGE box so kids have a house. Oooh and I'll be doing more giveaways too. Shhhh.

BalletGirl is into book mode these days, I believe she's reading Clementine books. Anyways she tends to get home and run into her room so she can read in peace, I can totally get that.

That's life here, oh and for those wondering the car had to have a new ignition switch put in. By the way it is much cheaper to have the locksmith do it. Have a great weekend.

Labels: after christmas sales, christmas shopping, elves

Do your children already have their Christmas Wish lists? Mine have been putting circles in magazines and initials by pictures whenever I pick up a catalog. They even put together a list for me, just in case I forget to grab one of the catalogs.

I found a fun place though online that I think the kids, and maybe yours would enjoy. It is called WishCove and it has a theme of a small island with waterfalls (you can hear in the background) explosions (great for boys) and gifts dropping from the sky. Once your child logs in they are taken to a toy sheet where they can pick from a huge selection of toys and put it on their wish list.

Head on over to WishCove today and have your kids make their wish lists.

Labels: wish lists, wishing cove

To all those that have fought, I wish you a happy Veteran's Day. For all those that have not, I wish you'd take a moment right now to think of those you may know that have had a part in it.

I wish you all a good day, to my papa who fought long ago. My uncle Butch who was in Vietnam, my father who didn't have to fight but was in the military helping in the states during war times. To my husband who's served overseas twice and to all of our friend, family and guys that have ever went over. Have a great day and relax a bit, ya'll deserve it.

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY!

Labels: veteran's day

Labels: barbie diamond castle

Labels: 233rd birthday, marine corps, marine corps ball, marine corps birthday

Labels: Ghirardelli chocolates, luxe chocolates, luxe ghirardelli chocolates, momcentral, moms love chocolates

Yesterday I saw what undisciplined children were really like and it made me sick to my stomache. I'd like some advice before I actually get into trouble or stand by and watch something so sick ever again.

We have tons of trees losing their leaves around here, so much you could pile a few children under it and never know. The leaves can go up to your knees in part of the cul-de-sac on our street. This isn't always good, we have two drain things (sewers) without bars over them. Something a child could easily slip through and get hurt badly. I live on a street where there are a few very undisciplined children and I saw what happens.

Imagine sitting and chatting with a neighbor as your kids are freely playing but then you hear what you believe is a whimper or crying. You quickly survey the area, the two girls are making their own pile of leaves to jump into a few feet from you, the oldest son is playing football in eye sight and the youngest is petting the kitty on the steps. Crying isn't your child, all is good. You still count up the children in the area and see who is missing. This is when I realized the neighbor's child was missing and one other child was laughing really loud and squatting in the leaf pile near the side of the road.

More whimpering, but you can't see. You see it seems to be coming from the laughing child and realize he's holding another child, must be the missing one, against the road. That is until you hear more screaming and realize he's holding the 4 year old child's head down and he's inside the sewer! ERRRRR. You can't see this because he has piled more leaves around him so you don't noticed the sewer or other child trying to wave his arms around for help. Neither of these children are mine but I feel very protective over children that are bullied. No one should ever, EVER do something like this. When realized his momma quickly went to get her crying son, grabbed him out and held him coming back home. I was a bit surprised that she didn't grab the other child and walk him home to his dad and tell him.

Am I wrong? Shouldn't someone have said or done something to this OTHER child? Had it been one of my children I would've come unglued, grabbed his arm, dragged (walked fast) to his home, pounded on his door and tell his parents. IF my child had got hurt I would've possibly called the police to make sure it would NOT happen again.

What would you have done?

I grew up in a time a spanking wasn't bad and while my children dont need it I would have definitely tanned a behind for that. My son (oldest) has now designated himself a watch dog and is going to try watching out for the little guys against this BULLY. The bully is too young for my son to do anything to him but he says he won't let that happen again. As a parent though what would you do? If it had been your child would you have handled it differently and are we expected to turn our heads when it isn't our child?

Labels: bullies, bully, undisciplined children

Last night we went on a walk (see what happens with no vehicle) and ended up in front of Minsky's Pizza joint here in Lees Summit. I must say I was shocked that it wasn't as packed as I pictured it would've been on a Monday Night...ya know with football and all. For those that don't know rumor has it Democrats will win because the Redskins lost...I was rooting for the Redskins, I hope this isn't true.

Here's what we had:

cheese breadsticks and sauce
1 large stuffed crust pizza with pineapple and ham
1 large pizza with italian sausage and mushroom

We also ordered a calzone to go, the Minsky Speacial and I ate that today. Boy was that delicious. The service was great and we never had to ask for anything, I'm definitely looking forward to this new favorite place of ours. Have you ate at Minsky's? What did you think of it?

Labels: lees summit, Minsky's pizza, pizza

The winner for my Savory Memories is....(#225)

My kids love the pre cut cookies and I do too....Thank you
# posted by linda a

Congratulations! Can you email me your address at homemom3@gmail.com within the next 24 hours. Thank you.

Many of you have wrote in with your kind letters and helpful words of wisdom, so far, the car just sits in front of the driveway. We live on a slight hill so the tow truck had to leave it on the street as it couldn't make the uphill since the tires won't budge.

What we tried:

- tried turning the wheel
- tried undoing something (plastic thing)
- tried bouncing it
- tried turning wheel left and right and up and down
- tried WD40
- tried visioning it to work

But it sits there waiting for us to figure out the secret. On Wednesday we will have a locksmith out. Hopefully he can get it going. Oh someone asked, it's a 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan and yes, I've read this is common among these vehicles. Thanks Dodge!

Labels: 2001 dodge grand caravan, dodge, dodge grand caravan

Last night we went to McDonald's and when we came back out the car wouldn't start. The steering wheel just wouldn't move. When you put the key in it won't turn. We ended up having to get it towed home but hoping someone here can help us figure out how to get it to work again. Please help if you've ever experienced this. Thank you.

2001 Dodge Grand Caravan

Labels: 2001 dodge grand caravan