Playing in the Snow

It snowed down here from Christmas Eve until the 27th and then it rested until soemtime late last night and it has been snowing off and on today. What does this mean?  It means a chance to play in the snow. The other day the kids went outside as it was slightly warmer than it has been and made small snowmen and some forts. Today, they are currently making a fort that the plan to turn into an igloo if it gets tall enough. Here are a few pictures of them, now the youngest is sleeping as I didn't chance him on the balcony with all this snow.
Besides playing in the snow we have played Scrabble and watched a ton of movies they got for Christmas. Today we will be doing Life and Littlest Pet Shop mall madness.

Has it snowed where you are? What have you done in the snow? We haven't had a chance to sled as we need to purchase one of those little plastic ones, the cardboard boxes just don't work right. Oh and we did try the Shred Sled on it but there is still too much snow for it to go through. Soccerboy has been trying to get a job shoveling the snow but a teen has already asked everyone on the block, the surprise is he charges $30 and SoccerBoy was only charging $15. The other boy never even finished all the drives. SoccerBoy says he'll remember to ask in advance next year if we are still here.

Secret Sibling Santa Shopping

We decided to add a new tradition to our family this year, we would have the kids draw names and do a sort of Secret Santa thing, which has now been dubbed as the "Secret Sibling Santa." For those that have never heard of Secret Santa here is the basic idea. Toss everyone's name in a hat and draw, if they draw their own name they toss it back in and draw again. Now the secret part is not telling the person they have until after gifts have been opened. To add to the fun you can let the guesser try to figure it out first before revealing it, but only after the presents have all been opened.

The girls drew the boys and their match, in other words the oldest girl drew the oldest boy which just had me laughing when the youngest girl drew the youngest boy. I mean it was just perfect and of course my oldest boy drew the oldest girl, etc. This also meant boys got mom a gift and girls got dad one. So here's what they got each other:

Soccerboy got BalletGirl a CD, BalletGirl got SoccerBoy a bucket of Army men. Now I know her gift sounds silly but he recently told me he wished he could be a kid so he could get some. He said he understood why no one got him toys and just DVDs, CDs and games but he hoped to get one toy, he even suggested a few which army men were on that list. I shared the news with his sisters before we even decided to do the secret sibling.

Little A got BabyGirl a Baby MyLittlePony in a crib for her castle, she got him Thomas the train tracks and such. I think the two were a perfect match up. As for the parents, I'm not sure what mom (me) got, but daddy got Edward Scissorhands and Jenga. Now it was actually funny how this came about, BalletGirl (was with me) and couldn't find anime (daddy's favorite) in Target so we started thinking toys and games when she came across that I guess her mind was made up. I quickly called daddy (before she let me know this) and asked for hints, he informed me of two movies (One above and Tom & Jerry), when I told her (after I hung up) she was all.

"Nope. Daddy wants this I know, he'll have so much fun and so will we." haha. How can you argue with logic like that.

Once at the line I asked her one last time between the two movies, she insisted on Jenga but her baby brother grabbed scissorhands and wouldn't let it go and kept saying daddy. So that's how it was picked. oh and it is hailing outside.

FedEx Blog Tour

MomCentral asked me to get the word out about FedEx and while I don't use them that often I do get packages from them all the time. I have noticed most of my packages from PR companies are from FedEx, which tells me they trust them and that says a lot.  See, when I do giveaways most of them go to the winner through the actual company, it is rare that I have to do it but when I do yes I use FedEx.   I love two companies and the first choice would be FedEx, after that it is UPS. I love that you can track all packages where they are and how soon they should arrive. If anything goes wrong the customer service is great but make sure to have that tracking number handy.

Not only does FedEx Ground cost 10% less than UPS Ground, but the new FedEx Office Print & Ship Centers offer customized calendars, cards, and stationery in addition to packing tips and assistance.

Did you know you can actually sign up to get an account at http://www.fedex.com/?  Now you will need to add your credit card info just in case you ever decide to use their services or need something shipped you can do it really quickly.  Sign up is easy, simply fill out your info and sign in. You will be able to immediately track a package, ship a package, set up a shipment which means they'll come to your house and pick it up for you. Yep, no more leaving home. No more standing in long lines and if you don't know the zip code you dn't have to wait for them to find it for you, you can simply type in the country, city, etc.

Here's a few packaging options you have:
-  smart packaging services
-  onsite
-  there is a guide that will help you do it all from home that even has diagrams to show you exactly where things need to be and what they are talking about.
-  FedEx testing done for FREE. This means they'll let you send them a package for free and they'll send it back to you. This can help you in seeing that you can trust them, how reliable they are and fast.
-  they'll even do a packaging design to help you out.  

Here's some rates as I know money can become hard and it is always good to see prices:
-  with this feature I can type in my destination, where I am and get the calculated time it would take to get there, price, etc.
-  Here's some important info it told me when I did a "pretend" shipment destination:

Rates shown here may be different than the actual charges for your shipment. Differences may occur based on actual weight, dimensions, and other factors. Consult the applicable FedEx Service Guide for details.


FedEx Multiweight pricing is available for multiple-piece shipments to one destination on the same day totaling 100 lbs or more for Express and 200 lbs or more for Ground Ground Multiweight pricing available via a contract only.

If you are not a current FedEx Home Delivery customer, you may request FedEx Home Delivery Service for your existing FedEx account. Depending on your volume, a weekly service charge may apply.

Please do not use FedEx Express packaging for your FedEx Ground or FedEx Home Delivery shipments.

If you need a rate and transit time for a service with special handling options not listed, please contact Customer Service.

Delivery dates and times are provided for single-commodity shipments only. Transit time information for multiple commodities is not supported in this application at this time. Please contact Customer Service.

The fedex.com transit time information is subject to change without notice. Consult the FedEx Service Guide for terms of shipping. In the event of a conflict between the FedEx Service Guide and the transit time on fedex.com, the terms and conditions in the FedEx Service Guide will prevail.

It did give me dates from today until December 29th that it may arrive. I must admit I was a bit shocked with the Christmas Holiday right upon us. Oh you can even order supplies on this site, this I actually knew because when we were in the military they sent a ton to the military wives for free (unsure if they still do that though). Now I do know if you sign up right now you can get two things, first when you sign up and then take this survey you can be entered to win an Apple iPod Touch (there are five up for grabs). You must enter today though so hurry!!! Two you can sign up for the free welcome kit and learn about the services they provide. Woo hoo, I said a freebie.
“I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of FedEx and received a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Opening Gifts and Family Traditions

As many of you know the kids have already began opening up their presents, it is a family tradition in this house to begin on December 21st with the turn of the season. This year wasn't different like I thought it would be due to the economy, instead we planned around it and made sure we saved for it and of course ya'll know I had the hubby hit up Black Friday sales and I bought things on Amazon with the gift certificates I earned through some of my reviews with Momcentral.

So what's been opened?  I'm only listing a few items like the Littlest Pet shop kits, you know the ones that have the tiny pets in them with maybe a bed or something? Well BabyGirl got a few of those and one of the bigger stuffed ones, she's been sleeping with the calico kitty one since the first night. The two oldest got boomboxes (SoccerBoy got a much cooler one that was slightly bigger since he is older) and a few video games for his gameboy. BalletGirl opened a few NEW MOON items. I said it like that because when she unwrapped them she shrieked, "NEW MOOOOOOON!" haha.

I will always love these moments. I think now that I see how much they enjoy the gifts on all age levels it really opens up a world of love for the season. I worried that once they hit certain ages they'd stop liking the gifts as much, but that isn't the case. The trick is really getting to know your child's likes and wants and following up on it as close as possible. I knew she liked the Twilight series because of the guys in it and Bella. I knew the oldest loved movies, music and video games so I went with my gut. The younger two were easy to figure out, basically you get them anything and they like it.

Little A got a few trucks, such as those with sirens (police and fire) and a bunch of hotwheels. Before you think this isn't much they haven't went through it all, but honestly we didn't go overboard this year since I get review products throughout the year we didn't see a NEED for toys. We focused on things like board games, video games, music and dvds.

Now for our other tradition, I'm having a blast making cookies and such. Today Little A and I made a bananna pudding like my grandma use to make. You know the Southern style with the crackers (vanilla wafers) sliced banannas and of course the pudding and top it off with cool whip. I think it turned out great, can't wait to eat it. This year we've decided to have a BBQ for Christmas and I'm making a tiny turkey for me and a few of the kids. All in all, it's a good ending to this year and I hope to get a bit more organized for next year and enjoy these two weeks that the kids are off making lots of memories.

By the way the picture above with BalletGirl, yes she is in a town and no these were not from Christmas. The kids brought out all their Little Pet Shop homes and My Little Pony Homes and combined them with Little A's hot wheel driveway. I thought it was cute that she was in the center playing with her baby brother. Happy Holidays ya'll!

ShredSled Review

We were sent the Shred Sled to review through LPR, the kids and I couldn't wait to not only see what this looks like but also to try to ride it. First, in my own opinions it is two things, one being a skateboard and the other a sled. Now we haven't got to try the "sled" part since we haven't had enough snow but trust me the kids on this block are anxiously waiting for it to try it out. These boards are known as "caster boards" which have become popular among pre-teens and teens.

When our board arrived, I of course ended up sick for all that time, however now that I am better we have been experimenting. The first few times I met the ground and decided to allow the kids to try it out first. I held them up until and raced around the room. By the way I had cleared out the dining room in order to do this and each wore helmets.

I also enlisted the neighborhood kids that do all those tricks to try this out. Immediately one jumped on and fell off, but he figured it out and on the second try coasted down the street. I never could do the coasting but my son (age 12) can actually go a few houses.

The Shred Sled 4 Wheel in Line Caster Board is available for $119.99



This video below represents my family more, of course they don't have one of me trying it or you'd be watching a "funniest video." Yes, I did attempt this and did move it a bit but I can't even manage going down stairs that well so imagine me on a skateboard.

V.Smile Cyber Pocket Winner

The winner of the V.Smile Cyber Pocket Learning System was picked through the Random.org generator, which makes picking a winner so much easier. I was very impressed with the outcome of the entries and I've picked up on a lot of new games for my kids. I hope you have too. Now just because everyone can't be a winner I wanted to inform you of a great deal Vtech currently has on their games.... but first lets do the winner.

The winner, which was....(sorry my page isn't working with my pictures right now)

Jammie said...
I would also get my daughter Cinderella's Magic Wishes. She loves the disney princesses.

Jammie I really hope this brightens up your day!! Please email me at homemom3@gmail.com with your mailing address.

Back to getting cheap prices at Vtech, right now they are having some great sales:

- http://www.vtechkids.com/shop.cfm?price=sale
- use coupon code: GETGAMES and get them $5 off

Don't forget the FREE shipping when you order $25+

Secret Santa Alive in Kansas City

Just the other day I was voicing my disappointment in no "Secret Santa" sightings in Kansas City. Why should this make me sad? When we first moved to Missouri it was both fun, exciting, scary, etc. But when I opened the paper out here for the first time there were stories about this wonderful man that no one knew that was giving away cash. He'd just walk up to people and hand them money, this is like one of those ripple effects because I also remember reading that some others walked on a bus and passed out $20s to everyone on it before leaving. It was just one of those feel good stories, I couldn't wait to live out here.

See that first secret santa was Ted Horn and then it was Larry Stewart. Larry was from Lees Summit, where I currently reside. From what I've read he was a very successful businessman, I'm guessing this is totally true because before his death he asked a trusted friend to carry on his work and gave him his fortune. Before his death they estimated he'd given away at least $1.3million. Talk about a very generous man.

My husband quickly informed me that the giving had began earlier this month, but since we don't have cable or a daily subscription to the newspaper out here I didn't know. I had typed it in at the KC paper but nothing came up, so I thought the worse...with the swine flu and all no one would've known who he was. He told me of stories of families getting 20s though and quickly put that smile back on my face. Today I went looking online for some "good stories" and sure enough I found them. I'll list them for you since I figure they made me so happy why not share it.

Secret Santa in KC:
- Secret Santa enlists Young Teen Elves: What a great thing to do! I've always said get the kids in on the action, this is sure to get to them and give them that warm feeling. I can't wait to hear more about this.

- Pics of Secret Santa passing out money. Secret Santa Gives

Now there is one catch, those that get the dollar bills must agree to do one nice thing for someone else. Who could ever object to something like that?

Check the video out below:

The Ultimate Meatball Blog Tour!

I recently told the husband that I wanted to cook more and actually eat at home. We are the type of family that eats out all the time, which of course means spending hundreds of $$$ a week, this all adds up and I'd rather save. So when MomCentral asked me if I'd like to take part in the "Ultimate Meatball Blog Tour" I said I'd love to do it. Course I picked doing it after Thanksgiving as I think these would make for a great dish to serve at a Christmas party. Cook these up, stick a toothpick in them and let the guests have at it.

Now the family wasn't too excited when they saw I was mixing meatballs with Heinz chilli sauce and cranberry sauce. Actually my oldest, he's 12, tried telling me he wasn't eating it. He ended up eating it and loving it. Now before we get into the recipe head on over to the Ultimate Party Meatballs site and check out the recipes and entertaining tips and even a sweepstake.

Here's the recipe with a few pictures that should help explain things:

Ultimate Meatballs:

Ingredients*
1 14-ounce can Ocean Spray® Jellied Cranberry Sauce*
1
12-ounce bottle Heinz® Chili Sauce*
1 2-pound bag frozen, pre-cooked,
cocktail-size meatballs

DirectionsCombine sauces in a large saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth. Add meatballs. Cover and cook for 15 minutes or until meatballs are heated through, stirring occasionally.Makes 30 appetizer servings.

Slow cooker Preparation: Place meatballs in a slow cooker. Combine sauces and pour over meatballs. Cover and cook 4 hours on HIGH.

We used meatballs from Schwann's and will be doing this recipe a few more times before the end of the year.

Can you see their expressions? This was their first experience with these and they didn't totally trust the sauce because 1. it was chilli sauce and 2. it was cranberry sauce. They thought it would turn out horrible, but they loved it and wanted more.

"Iwrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Heinz and Ocean Spray and received the ingredients necessary to facilitate my review. The meatballs I did purchase myself, as I love them. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate."

Monty T-Rex Review

I've always seen those tiny little dinosaurs that roar, also known as Dino Roars, and the little birds that peck inside the toy area of Wal-mart but I've never actually bought one. I was asked to review the "Playskool Kota and Pals Monty T-Rex" and I was happy to say yes. This is definitely a toy that is sure to be seen under many Christmas Trees this year, he makes the perfect gift for those that adore dinosaurs. Now keep in mind he is interactive so he may be walking around the house in the middle of the night if left on and someone accidentally bumps him in the night.

The moment the box got here I had some very anxious kids, now at first Little A wanted nothing to do with the giant dinosaur that sat beside him in the box. Finally once he was on the floor and I had him turned on he would attempt to get near him. Course I showed him if he pet his back he'd do things, or touch his tail, nose, etc. He loved it but was scared at the same time. The first day he'd run up from behind, pat his back and take off running. He'd get on the other side of the room and yell for him to come here. I loved watching him but I really wanted him to like him.

He did eventually warm up to him and now he plays with him, roars at him to get him to roar back and crawls beside him when he's walking. The teeth seem to be the biggest fear to a child so don't be surprised if at first they flip out when he roars.

Here's what Playskool Kota and Pals Monty T-Rex does:
Touch back- stomps (moves forward)
Touch or rub hand over his nose- sniff and sneezes
Touch under chin- purrs
Touch tail- Roar
Touch inside his mouth and he'll chew (noises)

My son loves to make him sneeze, he even imitates him. Oh and Rex likes to play music and of course gets my little one grooving along with him when he does. He also likes to put toys in his mouth to pretend like he's eating them.... he loves using his sisters' Littlest Pet Shop pets.Oh and yes his older sister likes to dance with him but he's claimed him.

You can get him and many stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, etc.

Here's a youtube video of Monty T-Rex in action.



I received “Monty T-Rex: DinoRoar” for this review on behalf of Playskool. All opinions are solely my own, from my own experiences. Others who may or may not feel the same way.”

The VCR is Cool!

Earlier today the hubby and I went out shopping for a few more Christmas Gifts and while we were I decided to stop at some Dollar General stores looking for the Mr.Potato head (spuds) as I had heard they are $2.50 and there is a coupon to make them .50. I didn't use my coupon this time but still got it. We also stopped off at the thrift stores beside both stores we went to and decided to buy a used (old) TV for $6.50 and then we saw a VCR Player (these are the things we use to stick our movies into before they had DVDs) which was only $7 but got it for 30% off. We grabbed a few $1 and $2 VHS tapes and headed home.

Now I've been complaining about having to get rid our our old VCR a long time since I still have boxes full of VHS and hadn't just wanted to sell them. So this makes me really happy, I can watch all my old favorite movies without having to buy them on DVD. But the kids had their own thoughts.

My oldest daughter called it, "Ancient and old fashion." OUCH.

Youngest daughter, "But mom that thing is HUGE I don't think the DVDs will fit right." haha

Youngest son (he's 2), "Wow, BIG, it heavy." He had seen the tv and while it is a small one it is the box type...in other words it isn't a flat screen. I never thought about it but he's never seen the older version of televisions.

But they did come to the conclusion that the VCR is Cool because now we can buy $1 and $2 movies that they've never seen. haha. Currently they are watching "Aladdin." So does anyone else have the "Old fashion tvs (in other words the ones that aren't flat screen) or the ancient DVD players as my kids call them?"

Midwest Dairy Winner

The winnerof the Midwest Dairy Giveaway is......#11.

MoGrill:
MMMM Pumpkin Pancakes sound great. Thanks for the chance.
mogrill@comcast.net

Congrats!! Expect an email very soon.

Mixing Up Days

Don't you hate waking up and finding out you thought the day was Friday and it was really Thursday? That's what happened to me this morning, well for most of the day that is. It just always makes the rest of the day and next go by so much slower.

One good piece of news, hubby found out he'd be getting a tad bit more money. Course he told me that he still had to buy Christmas Gifts for the wee ones and me. Me? I thought we were skipping each other this year. Ugh, means I must hurry and find him something, besides what he already knows about.

I hit a sad note last night when I discovered the amount of time I'd been spending in my online learning lab (class) wasn't enough. Let me just say I've spent a TON of hours...over 30 but it wasn't enough for my class, I was given a D for it. So I must add more and not sure how. I couldn't do work after I was told this as I was so frustrated. I've learned math is definitely not my strong suit, even if it is accounting. But I'm not giving up and still trying to make that A.

Hubby came home this afternoon, knowing I was still in a funk and took me out for a quick bite and a Starbucks. (hey it's my pick-me-upper) It did cheer me up, but then we grabbed some Redbox rentals (Night at the Museum 2 and Julie and Julia. After that we dashed over to the Buy and trade movie store and bought Christmas with the Kranks and Waitress. Currently watching the Museum with the littlest asleep in front of the TV. Watch any good movies lately?

V.Smile Cyber Pocket Review & Giveaway

Vtech wrote me and asked if I'd like to try out the V.Smile Cyber Pocket, I of course said yes I have four kids that love these types of games. First, have you or your kids I guess I should ask ever played the VMotion? If yes and you actually have some of the games for it they'll fit with the Vtech - V.Smile Cyber Pocket, which basically kills two birds with one stone. No longer will you have to buy two games because one doesn't fit in the other. There are a ton of Smartridges available, amazon actually has them between $8-29.00. For those that have the Baby Smile I'm unsure if those video games will work.

When this came to the house it was just me and Little A so he got first dibs on it. (See his picture here) He's seen his big brother with his own gameboy for a while now so he knows how to turn it on and push buttons. Once I got it out of the box, which was very secure, he took it and sat at the table playing it. The game that came with is called Zayzoo, but it seemed a bit advance for him so I went to get the V.Motion game we have and he had a ton of fun. This actually occupied him for a while.

Once the other three came home I got to watch each of them play with it. Here's what the Vtech - V.Smile Cyber Pocket has:
- High-resolution flip up LCD screen
- volume and color adjust at the bottom
- Smartidge Compartment (where video games go)
- a writing pad in the center of the machine, a pen is connected to the back
- joystick button, opposite side has the enter button (big orange circle)
- earphone jack and at top is a AC/DC 9V 300mA adaptor hole (it does not come with batteries or an adaptor)
- Zayzoo game

About the Game:
Zayzoo has been left on Earth and must stay for 4 days, he runs into two students and q$uickly learns the language. This is where kids will get to learn to match words, words that mean the same and use the pencil that is attached. My daughters both love this game.

This game will teach: math, vocabulary, problem solving, spelling, music and much more.

The Cyber Pocket is, in many ways like a Gameboy, you can take it anywhere you go...as long as it has fresh batteries in it. This past weekend we went to one of the hubby's military picnic's and we knew the kids and I would have to wait in the car a while so we brought along one gameboy (for the bigger kids) and the Cyber Pocket Learning System for the younger ones. Thankfully this worked like a charm and the two youngest took turns with one another, Little A played the game we got for the V.Motion "Action Mania" and BabyGirl used the game that came with it, "ZayZoo." Later they all took turns when one sat with me as we waited for the indoor picnic to begin.

Oh and so far this is very 2-year-old durable, my son has dropped it a few times and swung it and hit a wall. I almost flipped but the game was perfectly fine and so was the machine. It is easy to put the batteries in too, you just slide the back off and pop in the 4 "AA."


GIVEAWAY:

PRIZE: 1 V.Smile Cyber Pocket Learning System

RULES: Head on over to V.Tech and tell me one Smartridge you'd like to get your child. (not counting Zayzoo)

Additional entries: (always remember to leave a working email)
- Blog about the giveaway and link to Vtech (http://www.vtechkids.com ) The Life of a Home Mom(http://homemom3.blogspot.com ) and leave the URL to your post in the comment.
- Subscribe to The Life of a Home Mom or follow on blogger.
- Follow VTechToys on Twitter (www.twitter.com/vtechtoys )
- Follow homemom3 on twitter (www.twitter.com/homemom3)
- Tweet this giveaway
- Stumble this post
- Become a Vtech Toys fan on Facebook

Remember all the above you must leave a seperate comment for.

Deadline: December 14, 2009. The winner will have 24 hours to respond. Sorry this is for US Only.

Due to the FTC: I was given a V.Smile Cyber Pocket by VTech for my review. I was allowed to keep the product, but the opinion I am sharing remains my own and my kids'.

Snow Day!!

Last night I watched and waited at 1 am to see if it would snow. Believe it or not I didn't wait to actually see if it would I had to do my homework which took until midnight as only one person could help me and then it took forever, by the time it was done I couldn't sleep so we chatted abnout the upcoming holidays. Oh we will begin opening presents on Winter Solstice, but only one a night and then all of them on Christmas Eve because we all know Santa comes that night to leave presents.

I watched throughout the day as the snow would fall lightly from the sky but nothing worth staying home over. Finally last night it came and so did the wind and it has been going all night. The kids got a snow day, the hubby had to leave by 4 am just to make sure he could make it to work on time with all the drivers. I went back to bed after he left, the oldest played on facebook beside me. Oh did I mention the hubby couldn't get into his car at first as it was frozen shut.

Course now that the kids have a snow day they want to play outside but I have one sick, one that just got over and another that if she goes out I know she'll get sick again. Only one left is the oldest but it wouldn't be fair. Ugh, the life of a Home Mom.

Pic is last year's picture of the snowfall

One Gets Better, Another Gets Sick

I swear my house has been plagued with that horrible virus and won't leave until every one of us get sick. So far it hit me, which I kind of still have, thankfully only in the lungs now no more fever or sweats. The hubby got it but only 24 hours, BabyGirl had it for 2 weeks, Little A got it for 2 weeks and now BalletGirl has it. She's upset at the moment as I won't be allowing her to go to school tomorrow , which means she won't get to spend time with her BFF. But I need her to get better and it is currently snowing outside.

So far the only one left to get sick is SoccerBoy, which means then we can all be virus free. Woo hoo! Any of ya'll been sick lately?

In the meantime we are just watching and reviewing movies and toys. Oh and of course renting a ton of DVDs from the REDBOX.

How many of you are done Christmas shopping? I am just about, only one more person to get for and after that I wno't have to venture out in the cold.

Build-A-Bear Winner!!

The Winner of the Build A Bear (Frosty The Snowman) is........

Maxfate: She would love The Mrs.Clause Velvet Bear.

Congratulations, your little girl is going to love this bear. My son continues to take the hat on and off just to hear the magical noise. :)

Jiffy Lube Winner

The Jiffy Lube Winner is....

I live in Ohio and all I have to say is that it is more than likely your car will skid on ice. One time my car spinned around in a circle when I was trying to get out of a parking lot!I am so thankful that I did not hit anything or anybody.



honeybeez80@yahoo.com

Homemom3's Giveaways

Ends December 5, so hurry with those entries:
Babylune's IKEA soft Toy giveaway - IKEA Soft Stuffed animal (BARNSLIG KROKODIL and the GOSIG BULLDOG) There will be 2 winners, one will get the dog and the other gets the crocodile.

Homemom3's Build a Bear Giveaway - you can win a Frosty the Snowman. He's cute too.

Homemom3's Jiffy Lube gift card giveaway


Dairy Giveaway - Dairy Makes Sense apron, a coupon holder, cheese knife, measuring spoons, grocery pad, refrigerator magnet, recipe booklet, and coupons from Crystal Farms for a free package of cheese and a $25 Hy-Vee Gift Card.

December 11, 2009:
Pampers Clutch Giveaway

Midwest Dairy Giveaway

I love the Midwest Diary Council, they are always giving something nice away here on Homemom3. This week they are giving away a nice little package, which I'll discuss further down. I'm sure you've heard how important it is to have dairy in your diet, but Dairy Makes Sense makes adding it to the family food a little bit more fun.

Rebecca Murphy lives at Schwinn Farms in Kansas and is here to talk with us about dairy and ways to save money this holiday season. She knows how many moms struggle during the holidays to buy all those lovely gifts and still have money for nice and healthy meals. Rebecca knows dairy in recipes is very important for everyone.

Rebecca's Money Saving Tips for us:

o To save money, buy cheese in block form and slice or cube it yourself. Or use
holiday cookie cutters to create festive shapes, and save the scraps for
casseroles.

o Plain, low-fat yogurt makes a great, calcium-rich base for holiday dips! Buy yogurt by the quart and save, then flavor with dry ranch seasoning or soup mixes and serve with veggies.

o Pinched for time? Cook up a quick gourmet grilled cheese sandwich, using one or two of the more than 300 varies of American-made cheese, and serve with a warm mug of soup, made with milk to boost the nutrition.

o Remember to serve milk with every meal, not just holiday cookies. At about 25 cents a glass, it packs a lot of nutrients for the money.

Dairy Makes Sense has a ton of information for you. For example 1 (1oz) hard cheese contains 8 grams of protein. You can also get a bunch of recipes using dairy products, including casseroles and cookies. (hey Santa loves cookies) Don't forget to visit Dairy Makes Sense to get your coupons for milk, cheese and yogurt. This is on the homepage, near the bottom.

GIVEAWAY:


PRIZE: (1)Dairy Makes Sense apron, a coupon holder, cheese knife, measuring spoons, grocery pad, refrigerator magnet, recipe booklet, and coupons from Crystal Farms for a free package of cheese and a $25 Hy-Vee Gift Card.

RULES: Head on over to Dairy Makes Sense and tell me one recipe you'd like to try this holiday season. You could tell me something like, I would love to try the Pumpkin Pie Squares with Cinnamon Sugar Yogurt Topping. I love pumpkin anything, especially during the holidays so this will be something to experience. Course the kids will want to try the Pumpkin Cheesecake Shake.


US ONLY

Extra Entries:

1. Subscribe and let me know.
2. Follow “me” on Twitter (@homemom3) and leave your twitter name.
3. Tweet about this giveaway “Giveaway: Win a $25 Gift Card for Hy-Vee from the Midwest Dairy Council http://homemom3.blogspot.com/2009/12/midwest-diary-giveaway.html”
4. Blog about this contest on your blog
5. Visit the Midwest Dairy Council and tell me One Dairy Fact
6. Leave a question for the Dairy mom to answer.
Contest Ends December 11th, at 11:59 PM/C. Winner will be drawn randomly and notified by email. Winner will have 24 hours to confirm or a new winner will be drawn

(I did get a package as well for hosting this giveaway, which I used to buy a ton of eggs, milk and cereal)

When Expecting a Call, Expect Everything Else will Interrupt

What happens when you are expecting a call? Oh, just about anything you could imagine. Earlier today I knew a call was coming in from Daphne Brogden of www.CoolMom.com, but somehow not only did the time slip away from me but everyone decided to email, knock or be as loud as humanly possibly while I was on the phone.

First, I didn't answer the phone as I didn't recognize the number. I quickly typed it in the search engine and saw it was from NY. Oh shoot that must be the PR company, so I was just about to call it back when it rang. Ugh oh, I normally have my list of questions and the email up when I get an interview call. I didn't this time. I couldn't find the questions the whole time chatting either. Just as we started chatting I have to excuse myself so I can turn off Veggie Tales, it was very loud. I sit back downn to have Little A come over and sit right beside me and turned up his Vtech Cyber Pocket game. (he just got it so is proud he can play it, review later) Finally I quiet the game and begin to talk again. But....the door rang.

See, yesterday I gave a neighbor a TON of coupons for FREE wipes at Target. She went today and brought back a few just for me. How sweet right? Course she did that just as soon as I had sat down and began talking with Daphne, which meant I had to apologize once again for an interruptions. You would not believe how embarrased I felt. I whispered thank you and told the neighbor "Interview" and showed her the phone and she quickly left.

Once back inside we continued our conversation, but I felt like I was so off and couldn't think straight or ask the questions I wanted. Little A was all over the place, not like I had imagined. The plan was to get him to sleep before the call took place, this did not happen. Instead all loud noises did, doorbells rang, etc. Ever deal with this? Tell me it isn't just me.

What is Up with Zhu Zhu Pets?

I have yet to hear my girls shout they want Zhu Zhu pets, but I keep seeing them everywhere. I went to Wal-mart a few days before Black Friday and saw an entire rack empty and on it said, "Zhu Zhu pet toys: One per customer" and asked the hubby who had no clue what they were. Later I found out these were a HOT item with little girls and even tween girls.




SoccerBoy informed me that girls in middle school had them hooked to their backpacks, BalletGirl says all her friends have them. Now we don't have cable so this could be why we don't know much about them. But to be honest they look like little hamsters and you collect the hamster and all the accessories like the wheel and such that go with. Am I right?

Amazon was selling them but right now if you wanted one you'd have to pay $98.58 for it. Umm, it looks like a little cat's rat toy. Are these that popular that people will pay that price? I understood (kind of) the big ELMO craze but these?

Do your kids have the ZhuZhu pets? Tell me about them, please, I feel clueless.By the way if you notice the Amazon links I believe if you click the best price you'll get it much cheaper than the current advertise price. Oh and yes those are amazon aff. links so I earn a few pennies per click.

Tips to Get Kids to Sleep on time During Holiday Season

Twittermoms is having another contest, I love these contests they help us think of blog topics. Today's is: What are your five tips & tricks for getting your kids to bed on time and getting them to stay in bed?

For those that don't know Twittermoms is a great social site that has a ton of moms chitchatting and helping one another in a forum like setting. Stop on by and visit. For those that want to take part in the contest you can win a pink cozy, but you have to be one of the first 100 to post and leave a link. The only thing required is that I leave a link to http://www.dramau.net/ which has a bunch of videos for you to watch, which may get the kids to go to sleep and leave 5 tips. Oh and if I win one I also get to have a giveaway for one. Are we feeling lucky?

TIPS:
1 Keep a Routine- Believe it or not those that continue with a routine it will make sending kids to bed at a regular bedtime that much easier, even during the holidays. The only hard issue may be telling the grandparents that a bedtime needs to be done on time, an extra hour could mess it up or start to show the child's ugly side.

2 Get busy- For those that have a child that has a bazillion times more energy then the Energizer Bunny you may want to consider having them run around outside. But if it is too cold outside you can rough house or just play a bunch of games inside the house. Twister comes to mind and it is a very active game. Duck duck goose if you can clear a spot big enough.

3 Read Stories- you could begin doing one of those read-a-thons right before bed. You may even want to grab a dull, boring book if the fun ones don't put them to sleep.

4 Do it or lose an hour- Call me a Scrooge but I've been known to tell the kids if they don't go to bed or give me a hard time going to bed they go an hour early to bed the following day. No kid wants that.

5 Drive around- The one thing parents tend to do for babies to get them to sleep is to drive around town. You may want to try this on the kids that aren't sleeping.

With all that being stated on Christmas Eve I do tend have them watching Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate on the floor. When I start to see eyes roll I send them properly to bed, if I have stragglers the last one must be in bed by 10pm as they all know that is when Santa flies into town and if they aren't sleeping, he ain't stoppin.

By the way if you stop by www.DramaU.net you can enter to win some nice St.Eve Kids sleepwear, which is perfect for the holidays. Don't you think?

Do you have any tips on getting your kids to stay on a sleeping schedule?

Wordless Wednesday: Money

This is the one thing everyone seems out of right after the holiday rush is over. Do you agree? Happy WW!

IMG: Sxc.hu

Littlest Pet Shop Adoption Center Review

First, I want to say I have a 6-year-old girl that is absolutely in love with all things Littlest Pet shop so this will forever be on the list....at least for a few more years. But I also want to state that I have fast discovered that her 2-year-old brother loves these little things as well, especially the little buildings/homes.

We were sent the "Littlest Pet Shop Pet Adoption Center Playset
," which of course comes in PINK and ya'll know how BabyGirl feels towards that. The adoption center has all types of swinging doors, hideouts, places to store the pets (the tower as my girls call it) and a kennel. There's even a clear door that the kids can see through and watch what their pets are doing. At the top of the center is another sliding gadget that allows your Littlest Pet Shop pets to walk back and forth across the top. My girls like to say the animals are on an animal treadmill.

Here's what it comes with:

1 husky pet (boy)
1 husky pet (girl)

Pet supplies such as a water/food bowl and some treats, a chair for the pup, needle to give them their shots, clip board, table with sink, and much, much more.

Here are a few more shots of the Littlest Pet Shop Pet Adoption Center Playset:

BabyGirl had this to say about it:

I like that there are lots of doors, it makes it cool and great and lots of fun. There are lots of small doors and then it both sides open up. I also get two
more little pet shop pets that I didn't have. They were a brother and a sister
dog, Little A can play with the brother because he's a boy. But they can't be in
the same bathroom.

I asked her what she wanted for Christmas:

"I want more Littlest Pet Shop pets and the Littlest Pet Shop VIP and LPS, and the Littlest Pet Shop Tail Waggin Fitness Club. If I can have more buildings mom I can learn all about being a vet so I need all the pets. Okay mom?"
Yes, as you can see she loves animals so the "Littlest Pet Shops" works great for her.

Yes, this is definitely another addition to our growing Littlest Pet Shop community, currently the kids have it going around the Christmas Tree and the presents. The best part I think the girls loved about this is at the bottom of the Adoption Center is a little room, but when you unlock that hatch (also known as door) out comes a little pet carrying case. Now your kids can walk around with one of their pets when you go for car rides. Mine love this feature.

Want it? You can get it at Amazon for $43.45, Toys R Us for $39.99, Target $44.99, Kmart for $42.99 and of course HASBRO website.

For those of you looking for Christmas gift ideas these make great gifts, or even stocking stuffers check out more Hasbro Littlest Pet Shop items you can visit www.hasbro.com or click on my links (that'll take you to amazon). Here's a quick list of items they currently have that may be of interest to your little one:

- Littlest Pet Shop Advent Calendar $46.50
- Littlest Pet Shop VIP pets
- Littlest Pet Shop LPSO
- Littlest Pet Shop Playsets
- Littlest Pet Shop Games

I was asked to review a few Hasbro products, this being one of them. Now being able to review the item has never influenced my decision of whether I like a product or not, it just helps me show it off more.