Pepsi Throw Giveaway

How many of ya'll like Pepsi? Pepsi and I go way back, heck for a while there that's what kept me living back in high school. By the way kids that is not a good thing, you should always eat and drink a regular meal. Don't rely on soda to keep ya going.

Throughout my life Pepsi has always come and gone through my house. Today, it still does.

Okay so what's going on you ask?

Pepsi Throwback will be available nationwide for about 8 weeks beginning April
20 in 20-oz retro designed single-serve bottles and 12-pack cans.

Pepsi will be replacing it's current taste to the days of the 60's-70's when it was natural sugar instead of all this fake stuff. I was born in the 70s but I can't recall how it would've tasted and I think I may have been just a bit too young. I have yet to actually go and get one of these new Pepsi Throwback bottles but I'll look for them today and come back to tell ya what I thought of them.

Pepsi wanted to surprise one lucky "The Life of a Home Mom" reader with a Pepsi Throwback Prize Pack. What's in the prize pack? Oh, lots of goodies. There's the retro Pepsi tin lunch box (that I totally want), there's the throwback trucker cap, USB lava lamp (cool), retro clock radio/CD player (would be right here on my desk) and of course the blankets. Sounds nice doesn't it?

How about winning some fabulous Pepsi stuff?

Prize: One winner will get....

- Pepsi Throwback Trucker Cap
- Retro Pepsi Tin Lunch Box
- Retro Clock Radio/CD Player
- USB Lava Lamp
- Pepsi Throwback & Mountain Dew Throwback

RULES: Leave a comment below telling me a story/memory from the 60-70s, if you are too young share a Pepsi memory. Oh and leave a working email. (Sorry US only)

EXTRA Entries: tweet, stumble or blog about this contest and leave your name and link and you'll get an extra entry each time. One time per thing.

Deadline: May 15, 2009 and the winner will be announced May 15, 2009 around noon.

Pepsi Throwback Giveaway Coming soon....

That's right I have a contest coming soon so keep watching. In the meantime watch the Pepsi Throwback commercial. Talk about a blast from the past.

Wordless Wednesday: Chucky Cheese

My two precious girls at Chucky Cheese. You know it's the place where a kid can be a kid and well, lets just say ... I had a lot of fun. Two weeks ago I got the news my Nanny (grandmother) had passed on and the funeral would be that week so off we went for a road trip. We left on Wednesday morning from Missouri and got there late that night, it took 14 hours to arrive in Ohio. We booked our hotel room while driving, thank goodness for wireless internet (Love VerizonWireless) On our way we decided to stop off in Kentucky when we saw a sign for Chucky Cheese/StarBucks. I have many more pictures of this event that I'll post later. Yes, I had each child get their pictures done there for me. Now I have current shots of all of them on little cards. hehe.



Happy WW!

X-14 Vanishes Stains

Thanks to MomCentral and X-14 I have a clean bathroom. Okay, for this review...yes it is another review post but I absolutely love this stuff. Minus the smell. Can ya'll please make one that has a vanilla or a lavendar scent? I don't know if it is possible but I know several that would like it more, myself included. But with that being stated it does an excellent job cleaning up. WOW.

X-14 Spray came to my house to review. Due to the funeral I ened up posting this late but still wanted ya'll to know about it. All you have to do is spray it on the surface and wait for the stains to start going away and wipe it up. No scrubbing, which I love and it isn't one of those you wait 10 minutes and go back. If you are like me you aren't going back in 10 minutes, maybe 30 or an hour but not 10. You'll forget, get side-tracked, etc. You'll remember when you go to use the item you sprayed. Ikk. With X-14 you spray it and wipe and you are done. The stains are suppose to stay gone for 2 weeks. Now to get those stains off the wall.

This picture below, I want to state this is NOT our house, it is a rental and I'm understanding from 1986 at least. So when I was asked to review X-14 I jumped at it. Are you kidding, get rid of everyone that's ever been in my house YES. No more ikky germs. Here's a pic of before and then after.



Before as you can see had mold like in it and very yellow.



Not sure about you but I like the bottom picture and my son (Little A) is already trying to dump his bath toys back in it.

CVS Trip (April 26-May 2)

First for those that don't know I write a coupon blog over at Sales Weekly where I post all the deals and coupons for the week. Just in case some were wondering where I find all these deals. The Sunday Paper and ALL YOU Magazine at Walmart have become two of my favorite items to buy. I'm going to post what this should've been but after I'm going to add one more thing.

Okay the hubby had one of those Spend $50 and get $10 off.

$2.99 fructis ($1 off)
$3.49 rimmel eye liner pencil ($1 off)
$4.40 Veet (coupon $2 from RIB)
$1.99 hard as nail by Sally Hansen ($1 off from Kmart coupon book)
2/$5 speed stick (.75/2)
$14.99 breeze 2 monitor (up to $30 off coupon)
$7.58 purse on sale (using as coupon bag, other ripped)
$1.99 blade scorpion spray clearanced ($1 off RIP)
$1.99 V&C natural sponge (bath item, used $1 off RIP)
$2.98 ($1.99 each) Indicator toothbrushes ($1/2 coupon)

$48.93 before tax
$33.74 in coupons (this includes the $10 off)

$15.19 (should've been)
Use $7 ecb making it $8.19
Earned ECB: $2, $3, $1, $1

But I tossed in something plus the calculator since someone got a hold of mine and I didn't have one on me. This was a good trip and I did leave with ECBs plus used my own card and bought:

Speedstick deal 2/$5 minus 2/.75
garnier deal $2.99 minus $1 off
Total: $6.24 (not including taxes)
Used: $6 ECB from before and paid just the tax.
Earned ECB: $3, $2

My CVS Scenario

I'm going to try to play the CVS $5 Challenge and then in the following post I'll post what I actually bought. The object as you can probably guess is to spend as little out of pocket but never going over $5. By the way I did get some of this but not all or even this route, I had one of those $10 off $50 coupons to spend. So here's my scenario for the $5 challenge:



Scenario 1:
Transaction #1
CVS:
- $2.99 Fructis Shampoo/conditioner ($1 off coupon on any Garnier)
- $1.00 Bandaids ($1 off coupon) FREE
- Rimmel Mascara BOGO Deal (ALL You Magazine BOGO Coupon) FREE
- $1.99 Crest ($1 off coupon, .75 coupon)

Total & OOP: $2.98 (plus tax of course)
ECBs earned: $2, $1

Transaction #2
-Speed sticks 2/$5 (coupon .75/2)

Total: 4.25 use $3 ECB from above
Oop: 1.25 plus tax

(If did taxes right)
Total OOP: $4.61
Grand Total of Everything: $10.98
ECBs leaving store with: $3
***********************************************************************************

Scenario 2:
Transasction #1
- $2.99 Fructis shampoo/conditioner/styling stuff ($1.00 coupon)
- (2) $1.99 Crest Indicator toothbrushes (coupon 2/$1 off)

Total: $4.98 (plus tax and you could do the freebies from above)
ECBs earned: $2, $1, $1

Wordless Wednesday: ROAD TRIP!

Here's a view from the road. We are on our way to Ohio, this is a VERY long trip as you can see. Can you guess where this is?

Happy WW!

CVS Shopping Trip

I hit up CVS again yesterday, with me were all four kids until one wasn't very happy being there and I sent him out to daddy. But in the end it was a good day and I have plenty of toothpaste and shampoo now to last us a while. I don't have as much as some I have seen but enough for me....that is unless I can get it for pennies or free. Have you shopped at CVS before? Do you play the game? If not I highly recommend two forums: HotCouponWorld or AFullCup.

#1 Accucheck Monitor (for diabetes) $9.99
Act restore mouth wash $3.79
Crest toothpaste (pro health) $2.88

Coupons: Act $1 off, Crest .75 off
Total: 12.82
ECBs earned: $9.99, $2, $2

#2 Tresseme Shampoo/conditioner deal 3/$10
Act mouth wash

Coupons: Act $1 off
USED: (ECBs) $9.99+2.00
Total: .86
ECBs earned: $5, $2

Today I will be showing a neighbor how to play the game, hopefully I continue to do better. I also hit up Price Chopper over the weekend and Walgreens, but walgreens had a manager that wasn't very nice. I'll only go now when the little old lady is working, I did NOT like they way he treated me. Even my 8-year-old said he made a fool of me. I'll explain later.

Easter Weekend

What was Easter Weekend like? To be honest it was quiet and fun and loud all at the same time. How's that you ask? Easy, I have four kids and know that my life could be quieter or louder than it was. Plus there was no huge drama that went on, not unless you count them having to wait to find the easter eggs the bunny left behind.

Saturday morning we woke bright and early. Yes, I know it wasn't Easter yet but they had the Lees Summit Bunny Hop that the kids just couldn't miss. The bunny hop is gathered down in Downtown Lees Summit, children bring baskets and walk to the participating stores and receive candy. Yes, in a way this is an early Trick-or-treating but for the bunny. I like it, no kids are rushing around or stomping on one another. Not to mention we never have to divide up because one child is older than the other and they all start at the same time. The kids all see the bunny and if they made baskets they get judged, we forgot this year but will be prepared for next year. We've already begun designing them. hahahaha.

I loved this event, not only were the kids having fun but everyone was walking and hanging out together. Life is so busy these days that you don't see this much, but on the events like this it just shows you how we could easily go back to the times when life was simpler, slower, not so fast paced. Okay, obviously I am not a city girl and very much meant to live in the country. Right?

Once home we played horse shoes out front, oh and I suck by the way. The kids played basketball, chase, tag, etc. Finally, once inside all things settled down and the kids went their seperate ways. The girls played with their dolls, SoccerBoy went off to read and examine his cards and Little A visited each one of us at different times.

Easter morning came early due to one 8-year-old little girl that just couldn't stay asleep. By 9 a.m. we were all out of bed and searching the house for Easter Eggs. See the bunny wasn't sure what the weather would be like and left a message telling us he hid them in the house. Finally the kids found their baskets all downstairs. All in all it was a great weekend and the kids are STILL (thursday even) playing with their baskets and hiding those eggs.

What was your weekend like?

Sonic Winner is...

The winner of the delicious $20 Sonic Card and Sonic Zoo tots is........

Jinxyandme
I like the giraffe and onion rings from Sonic!

Email me with your mailing address. homemom3@gmail.com

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Wordless Wednesday: Easter Bunny Hop

I took this when we went to the Downtown Easter Bunny Hop over the weekend and thought it would make the perfect Easter picture. No there isn't a bunny but there are baskets. Wow, here's my group all together and no one is fighting. No on a serious note I was surprised because every one of them had a smile. From left to right: Little A (in the stroller), BalletGirl, BabyGirl and SoccerBoy. Happy Wordless Wednesday!!

CVS Run for April 5-11

Last week I hit both CVS and Walgreens, now I could've done better but didn't. I did need the baskets and a few other items and already had some money ($5.49 ECBs).

Transaction #1:
$20 in cover girl items: $13 & $7 items
OOP: $9.51
ECBs earned: $10

$3.99 Pot of gold BOGO (I got two for the price of one)
.88 pringles (6)
.99 Glade Spray (6)
.79 Easter Grass (2)
Total: $12.06
OOP: .06
USED: 10 ECB
Earned ECB: $1.58

COUPONS:
CoverGirl $1 and $4 off ($5)
Pringles 2/$1 off (2)
Glade BOGO Coupons (3)

Win a Lola Et Moi Dress at Babylune!

I'm giving away a Lola Et Moi Dress over at Babylune, stop by and comment in order to win. I'd love to see a reader when this. The dress is valued at over $180 and is from a Hollywood Boutique that has actually had customers such as Kelly Ripa, Salma Hayek and many other movies stars' children in there.

Here's the dress:
Isn't it cute? This ends in two weeks.

Win Sonic Zoo Tots!

The family and I went to the Kansas City Zoo on Valentine's Day and boy did we have fun. My favorite part was watching the Chimpanzee, course it was also my saddest since he was all by himself and looked so lonely. However we were amused by the kangaroos, deer and llamas and can't wait to go back.

I was recently contacted and asked if I'd host yet another giveaway, this time the winner will get:

- Sonics Gift Card (My Sonic Card)
- set of Sonic Zoo Tots

I've always loved visiting the zoo, but my other favorite place that I don't visit too often is Sonics. Growing up we didn't have one close by, course now we have three in our town so I am getting to know them pretty well. In fact I ate lunch at one today and enjoyed my Cheesey Coney Dog and fries. But I love that they now offer fruits for the kids as a side.

Here's a snippet from the SonicDriveIn:

In an effort to make learning about wildlife fun and meaningful for
children, SONIC and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) have partnered
in a new ZOO Tot campaign. The 15 plush ZOO Tot toys, available during the month
of April with the purchase of a Wacky Pack Kid's Meal, are as adorable as they
are educational. SONIC hopes the partnership and promotion will help raise
awareness about the importance of wildlife conservation. Attached to each ZOO
Tot is a link to http://www.soniczootots.com/, an interactive Web
site where customers can play games and learn more about their ZOO Tot
animal.

RULES:
- Comment below telling me your favorite Zoo Animal and Favorite Sonic Food. (yes both of these must be answered)

- Leave an email address so I can contact you.

- Respond within 24 hours of my post of the lucky winner. (homemom3@gmail.com)

Extra Entries:
- Those that tweet this post and leave a link in the comments.
- Stumble this post.
- blog about my contest
- Comment on another entry and leave a link to that page.

US Only please.

Deadline: April 15th, I'll announce the winner at noon. Good luck!

Disney on Ice Review

This wasn't our first time seeing Minnie Mouse, but it was definitely a first to watch them skate around on ice. I've always found Mickey and Minnie as Magical, which really fit with the theme of the show. See, we once lived in California and constantly visited Disneyland while we lived down there. Check out the picture below at one of our many trips. (Yes, many years ago, that is SoccerBoy and BalletGirl) Fast forward to yesterday, we had just ended our meal and were headed upstairs to the Kemper Arena. Everyone piled into the elevator and were greeted to the Disney Music of "The Little Mermaid" and "Mickey Mouse" playing on the radio throughout the building. There were booths galore all the way around full of souveniors and food/drinks for you. Prices were a bit high, especially if you weren't prepared for it. We did buy the kids icees that were in Stitch cups (Stitch's head) and a Tinkerbell light wand (it spins) in the very beginning. The cups were $10 and the wand $20, but the wand also comes with a 2 year guarantee. Since we got there so early though we did spend more than this, I mean we needed drinks and snacks as well.

Finding our seats was the best part, we were on the lower lever and right there in the center so we saw them perfectly. I loved the seats, we all did. Thank you so much MomCentral and Feld Entertainment, it was a wonderful experience. The lights went dim and you could hear the announcer introducing Mickey and Minnie. Believe it or not, Little A wasn't scared of them.

Immediately we got to see Mickey and Minnie begin their magical journey, course what would the show be without that silly old Goofy. He was there but he kept tripping and spilling out all the luggage, guess it was a good thing she didn't bring any bottoms. I was amazed by how the performers were able to dance on the ice which such huge costumes, especially Ursula (from Little Mermaid) and Timon and Pumba.

Soccerboy's favorite part: I loved the flying from Peter Pan the best and the spaceship on Lilo and Stitch.

BalletGirl's favorite part: The spaceship and how it went up and down like it was really moving. I also liked the Little Mermaid because they were singing and dancing.

BabyGirl's favorite part: Tinkerbell! I loved when the fairy got stuck in the closet and the flying part. Oh and the dancers in Lilo and Stitch.

Little A seemed to LOVE the pirate ship and the crocodile. I was a bit shocked that he wasn't screaming.

Many people left as soon as the show ended, but if you stuck around you got to see the "Behind the Scenes" which the kids were excited about. Actually, BalletGirl said this was one of the best parts for her because she loved Mary from Boston (figure skater) dance around the ice gracefully. But her favorite was when Mary did the sit spin and looked like a top. Course I think when the pulled the old man and little boy out of the crowd and made the sound effects of jumping was the best. It had everyone laughing because the little boy had more of a sprong noise and the old man a teeny bounce noise.

In all, this was a great show and I can't wait to go next year. Course I'll be a bit more prepared. Pictures get developed tomorrow I'll post them at that point. Great performance Disney On Ice members!

Meeting Minnie Mouse and Other Mom Bloggers

As ya'll know, we went to Disney on Ice last night in Kansas City and LOVED every minute of it. First, we got there early....a bit too early and had to wait around a bit. I was invited to attend a special event before the show where we got to meet a very special guest. As you can see it was Minnie, too bad my camera didn't take. Each child got their picture taken with her and I'll try to post them all throughout the week once I get the film developed. Course this depends if it took or not, inside was dark and I bought a throw away camera.
- Note to self: Next year buy a nice camera just for this.

The special event is called a Meet and Greet with Momcentral and Feld Entertainment. This is where a group of us moms/dads got to meet one another as well as the two group leaders. Each of us shared stories with one another about our children, blogs, etc. Course one was smart enough to think ahead, Denise from "There's Always Room For One More," actually brought along business cards with her info and blog address on them. I'll make sure to do this next time, thanks for the idea Denise. For our meal we were offered a Kid Friendly (which I absolutely loved) meal that the kids gobbled up.

Meal: Salad, chicken tenders, french fries, cookies and your choice of drink. (lemonade or ice tea)

Right after this is where Minnie popped her head in. Little A did NOT like her, course he hates any character that is bigger than he is. You can't see much in the picture but he was just starting to scream.

Once the Meet and Greet was over we went off to our seats in the arena. Boy was that place big. Stay tuned for the review of the big night.

Disney On Ice Here We Come!

Actually the truth is we have arrived and I'm actually waiting for the group to get here. I guess that's what I get for being an early bird. Oh well, it gives us time to get ready and a parking spot. Here's what we have for tonight.

SoccerBoy brought himself a spiral notebook to jot down any ideas he gets and to write about things so he doesn't forget, plus he might get autographs. We aren't sure yet if they do that or not but it was worth a shot.

Both of the girls are dressed up, BalletGirl (age 8) is dressed in a dress we got at Walmart that reminds me lot of Alice in Wonderland. Not to worry there will be pictures to go with our review of the show later. BabyGirl (age 5) is actually wearing a Jasmine costume with her hair pulled up into one ponytail. BalletGirl also brought a notebook for autographs, BabyGirl brought her Disney Princess book we got. We aren't sure yet if they will let her take it in or not though.

Little A is wearng a sleeper as I wasn't sure what the temperature would be like inside. My guess is either way he'll be warm so at least he won't be cold right?

I do have my phone and a throw away camera just in case we can take pictures, I also noticed they have a huge area for pictures so we may and may not do that. All in all, we are excited and they are couting down the minutes. I just want to take a moment and thank MomCentral, Feld Entertainment and Disney On Ice for this wonderful opportunity. This will definitely leave some wonderful memories for me and my kids.

testing

my posts don't seem to be showing up so this is a test run.

Bakugan and Cards & Kids

We recently got sent a Bakugan Battle Pack and boy were the kids impressed. Okay, for starters I had no clue what this was and to me it looked very much like Pokemon...not to worry I've since been told I was way off. For those that don't know Bakugan is a Japanese animated show that deals with magic cards on Cartoon Network. Here's the theme song on youtube:



We got the battle pack Coffret Combat that had the following inside:

-6 Bakugan (the balls)
-6 ability cards
-6 metal gate cards

I think the younger kids and myself were more impressed with the balls that turn into the Bakugan warriors. You have to roll them but when they land on the metal cards just right they pop open. Little A had a field day with popping them open and then closing them again. (he's 2) We did get a few more cards and balls but the big one was the Battle Pack Coffret Combat that had all types of neat things in it. The metal cards are really nice and have some great artwork, inside the card is the metal that makes the balls transform into their characters, this is also the way you figure out their battle number.

I did play a few rounds with SoccerBoy who seemed to enjoy explaining the game to me. But in the end he and BalletGirl were trying to teach their yonger two siblings and they played on and on for hours.Course it was Little A that made the game his own when he snuck the balls into my room with one of the cards and kept plopping them open and closed and laughing.

Listerine Total Care: Do You Rinse?

MomCentral & Johnson recently sent my family a bottle of Listerine Total Care mouth wash. I will not lie, my children ar huge on the whole rinse and spit routine. They absolutely love mouth wash, ummm, I think this is a good thing. But the hard thing is finding a good one at reasonable prices. The Total Care actually does 6 different things for yo at once.

Listerine Cares:
*restores enamel
*helps prevent cavities
*strengthens teeth
*kills bad breath germs
*freshens breath
*fights unsightly plaque above the gum line

SoccerBoy, age 12- spicy at first, when I spit it out there is kind of an after taste but goes away in a few seconds but my mouth feels clean.

BalletGirl, age 8- super spicy in the beginning and I can feel it cleaning my gums. It taste like mints to me. I like it.

BabyGirl, age 5- tastes funny when I spit it out but I like it, it's purple. (now normally I give her a more kiddie type)

As for me, an adult, I did like this. As BalletGirl says you can feel it really working its way into your gums and killing all the bacteria in your mouth. She was also right on the taste, it is a fresh mint, which explains the "spicy" they are talking about.

Now I do want to state before I getting any emails, I do not normally give the thre younger ones this type of mouthwash. They do have their own types that are meant for younger children, with floride in it. Those of you that don't know, Listerine states (at least this one) children under the age of 12 should consult a dentist first. This was just their testing a review and of course SoccerBoy says he wants to continue to use it. I think he also likes the fact that no other hands will be all over it so it'll be less of a mess.

If you plan on purchasing a bottle of listerine you can get a coupon here.

Win Zoo Tots!

Another Contest is Coming soon! You'll be able to win some of these guys, keep watching my posts.

Wordless Wednesday: And it SNOWED

It snowed and it snowed and it snowed some more. To be honest we weren't prepared, yeah they said we'd get snow and I thought we might get light flurries. I....was.....wrong. The kids loved it, I hated it,the driveway got shoveled. Ikkk. Course now I hear it might snow again. I'm so hoping this is wrong. Either way look at that wonderful white stuff, it's fine on the computer, I no longer like the white stuff.

Happy WW! I now thinkWW stands for Wacky Weather.