New Dragon Knight Collection From Kidorable and Umbrella Giveaway!

Looking for a Holiday gift for your little Knight in Shining Armor?  Kidorable is excited to introduce their new Dragon Knight collection! Its super cute, and very boyish!

The Dragon Knight collection is steel grey with dark green as accent color, perfect for strong and brave boys. Some pieces accentuate the Knight, others the Dragon, but there is a nice interplay between both characters throughout the set. The umbrella has protruding dragon horns and wings, with a knight, fire, and a castle motif along the bottom. The helmet on the matching raincoat is Kidorable’s coolest hood so far.

The child who wears it can imagine himself as a valiant knight fighting the dragon. The backpack is shaped like a shield for extra play value. It comes with a little stuffed toy sword. The coat is a new material, PU (polyurethane). It’s softer and lighter than PVC.

The week of December 5-11 only use coupon code DRAGON7 to receive a free Dragon Knight umbrella with your order over $20 (make sure to add the Dragon Knight umbrella to your cart first).  You can check out the who collection by clicking HERE.

One of my readers will win the adorable Dragon Knight umbrella!  Open to US only.  Here is how to enter:

Kimochis Review and Giveaway

Anyone who has young children knows that sometimes they have a hard time telling us how they feel, that is because sometimes they really don't understand their feelings, or why they are feeling a certain way.  Kimochis is a company that focuses on helping kids deal with feelings.  They provide communication tools for kids, parents and teachers to enable them to become better communicators and express their feelings.  Kimochis (meaning feelings in Japanese) are small soft pillows that come inside the cutest cuddliest characters, Cloud, Huggtopus, Cat and Bug.  These characters have feelings just like kids do.  Each character has a special pouch in front into which "feelings" are placed. Each Kimochi pillow has a facial expression that represents an emotion on one side, and on the other, the name of that emotion. These emotions range from angry, jealous, hurt, left out, frustrated, sad, to happy, friendly, kind, brave, silly, loved and many more. There are 24 emotions available.

My favorite character is Cloud, he is the blue one, second from the left in the picture above.  Each Kimochis character comes in its own box with three feelings (which vary per character) and a detailed Feel Guide, which is an instructional booklet. The booklet is full of fun, easy lessons and activities for moms and dads.

Parents can use the characters and their Kimochis to help their kids get in touch with their emotions in a fun way using puppetry, play, and role play.  This way kids learn to identify feelings and learn positive ways to deal with them.

One of my readers will win 1(one)  6" inch Kimochis plush with small keychain and comic book.  Open to US Only, here is how to enter





I received a Kimochis for review purposes, all opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review

Thanksgiving Family Football

We usually do Thanksgiving with my in-laws (we do Easter with my parents) and this year they planned a little family football game.  I wanted to share some of the pictures...

Sis helping little brother with his flags

Dad and son action shot...

So intimidating

Missing a few in this shot, but it looks like they all had a good time!



Playing Catch-Up and some Winners

Hopefully all of you had a wonderful Holiday filled with family and yummy food.  I got to spend a much needed weekend with my husband and kids, we needed some family time.  Now I'm going to have to really hit the gym to work off all the food I ate!  Now that Thanksgiving is over I have to play catch-up with my posts, so check back often over the next week. 

I have two winners to announce today, the winner of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II is....
#14 The Brown Bunch

and the winner of the Moxie Girls Prize Pack is ...
#74 Stan

By the way, I watched the Harry Potter movie last night and it was AWESOME!!!

Congrats to my winners, emails are going out.

Black Friday Deals....Get Them While They Last (Extended through Cyber Monday!)

Hopefully all of you Black Friday shoppers had some luck and got all the goodies you were headed out to get.  If you are not shopped out yet, I have some super deals you do not want to miss.

UPDATE:  Due to popular demand, these deals have been extended through Cyber Monday 11/28

Bronze color, retro style, round case

12 Arabic number hour markers

Precise quartz movement for accurate time keeping, one button for time setting

Normal water resistant, NOT for showering or swimming

Case back is engraved with flowers carvings

Watch cover is engraved with Eiffel Tower pattern

Battery is loaded

Material: Alloy

Get this deal by clicking HERE



Unique Pandora's box pendant with delicate and exquisite features

Ring buckle chain for easy wear

Material: Alloy

Pendant Size (L x W x T): 10 x 10 x 2mm/ 0.3 x 0.3 x 0.08"

Chain Girth: 40cm/ 15.6"

Color: Silver

weight: 0.1kg

To get this deal click HERE

Product Details:

Genuine Fresh Water Pearl Earrings

White Gold Plated Stems

Size: 1.875" W x 1.875" H x 0.875" D

Get this deal by clicking HERE

Game Boy pattern design silicone case for iPhone 4G

This case for Apple iPhone 4 keeps your Apple iPhone 4 safe and protected in style

Extremely tough, durable case molds perfectly fit for your iPhone's shape

Meticulously crafted, durable and comfortable grip

Snap-on case is designed to offer all-around external surface protection to your phone without compromising usability
Provides easy access to all functions without having to remove the case

Shock absorbent and shatterproof

Material: Silicone

Size: Perfect fit

Accessory ONLY, iPhone not included

Get this deal by clicking HERE

Mini universal car charger adapter for iPhone 3G 3GS 4G

Made of durable hard materials

Compact and mini size, convenient to carry with you anywhere

Allows you to power and recharge your iPhone by any standard 12 Volt car lighter socket

Keep your iPhone charged on the go

No need to carry around multiple model-specific 12V car chargers

Easy operation, simply plug the adapter into cigarette lighter port

Then connect it to your mobile devices via a standard USB charging cable (not included)

Charge quickly and efficiently

Internal circuit to manage charging status & prevent from over or under-charging

With LED charging indicator

Input: 12-24V

Output: 5V 1000mA
Size: 60mm x 20mm (H x Dia)

Get this deal by clicking HERE

White dial with 12 Arabic number hour makers

White silicone watch band, soft and comfortable to wear

One crown for adjusting time

Quartz movement, battery preinstalled

Simple clasp fastened

Normal Water Resistant, Not suitable for showering or swimming

Great gift for your kids

Movement: Quartz

Clasp Type: Strap buckle

Case Size(Dia x T): 43 x 14mm (Approx.)

Band Size (L x W): 215 x 22mm (Approx.)

Color: White

Get this deal by clicking HERE

Ever Try Silk in Your Cereal?

I have to admit I have never been a big cereal-eater, not because I do not like cereal, I love cereal, I just have never really liked milk.  Sure I loved it as a kid, but somewhere along the way I just grew not to like it.  I knew I was missing out nutritionally but I just couldn't force myself to drink it.  So the logical thing to do was to look for an alternative to milk, and the first thing that came to mind was Silk, the soy milk.  It only made sense since Silk has 50% more calcium then regular milk, plus it comes in a variety of flavors so it never gets boring. 

The first one I tried was the vanilla.  The color of Silk is not as pure white as dairy milk, but to me that was great.  I just think dairy milk is so thick tasting and the bright white color just adds to it.  The Silk was much lighter in flavor, it also brought out the flavor of my cereal more.  The other thing I loved....no milk breath afterward.  I got the chocolate flavored Silk for my husband and kids to try out.  He loved it with his chocolate flavored cereals and the kids really enjoyed it as well.

Silk is a great alternative for those who are sensitive to dairy or just dairy milk.  It is sweetened with Stevia which has no calories either.  Silk is also 100% cholesterol free, low is saturated fat, and each glass contains 6.25 grams of soy protein which has been recognized by the FDA for its role in heart health. In fact, the FDA states that 25 grams of soy protein per day, as part of a healthy diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce your risk of heart disease.  Silk comes in a variety of flavors as well as an organic version, there really is a flavor for everyone in your family.

Now that I have an option other than dairy milk, I can enjoy cereal in the mornings again.  Silk is offering one of my readers a fantastic prize pack to try Silk in their cereal.  One of my readers will will two coupons for free Silk products, an awesome Silk cereal bowl, and a really cool tote bag.

This nifty little cereal bowl keeps the cereal and silk separate until its time to eat. The liquid compartment keeps the silk cold too andd there is a cute little folding spoon inside as well.  To enter the giveaway follow the instructions below.

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Follow this blog via Google Friend Connect, then leave me a comment letting me know you follow and don't forget to add your email address so I have a way to get a hold of you if you win.

Additional entries:

Follow Silk on Twitter +1
Follow me on Twitter +1
Like my Facebook Page +1

Giveaway is open to US ONLY will end at midnight on December 7th.  Winner will be chosen at random and notified via email.  Winner will have 48 hours to reply or a new winner will be chosen.

Tales From the Coop: Honey Its Cold Outside!

You know winter is near when your chickens stop laying.  Bummer.  My auracanas stopped laying last week, the reds and others are still laying but not as often.  I read, when I first started raising chickens, that they need 14 hours of light in order to lay, and that you can turn on the light in their coop to make up for lost daylight.  Apparently my chicks are not buying it because the light in the coop is not helping them lay.  The ducks still lay daily and the light has had no effect on them.  I am running into a dilemma though, this whole time I have been using a plastic baby pool outside the coop for their drinking (and duck splashing) water.  Now that the nights get so cold, the hose is freezing, as well as the top of the pool until I crack the ice in the morning.  Putting a water container inside the coop is out of the question due to how much splashing goes on when the ducks drink, there would be ice all over the coop.  I saw some heaters at the store that go inside water containers but they are about $30.  Does anyone have any experience with these heaters?  Do they last?  Do they do the job?  Last winter my spoiled ladies didn't even go out into the snow, but I did not have ducks so the water dish was on the inside.  I am pretty sure this year I will be shoveling the penned in area behind the coop so the girls can go drink from the pool.  Spoiled birds.

Lots of Winners!

Good Morning!  Only two days 'til we stuff ourselves with turkey, YAY!  Ok I have about six winners to announce today so here we go.  The first winner is for the Carmex prize pack:

#14 Jl Johnson!

Ok now for my five Sephora winners:
#71 Jamie Brigham
#224 Angie B.
#95 Mami2jcn
#164 Jennifer Brown
#23 Dee

Congrats to all my winners, I will be sending emails later on in the day!

Smart Ones Satisfying Selections Review

Holiday time is crazy time here at our house.  It seems like we are always running around...and trying to get  a good meal when you are busy with the Holiday crazies is almost impossible.  I joined a gym about a month ago and have been trying to make these Holidays better by taking care of myself.  Its so easy to just run to the drive thru and get a big fat greasy burger but that always makes me feel so guilty later, not to mention feel totally bloated.  This is the time of year when I crave warm hearty food and its also the time of year I pack on some extra pounds.  I had never considered frozen dinners in the past simply due to the small portion sizes but Weight Watchers Smart Ones Satisfying Selections put an end to that.  I got to sample these generously sized dinners recently, and I must say I was impressed.  The portions are 30% larger than traditional tray meals and they come packaged as a bagged meal.  Inside there are much heartier pieces of meat and veggies than what is typically found in a frozen nutritional tray meals.  I tried the Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo and the Sesame Chicken.  They were both good, the Alfredo a little better (I'm a pastaholic).  The pieces of meat were noticeably bigger, which was nice for the extra protein, 25 grams or more! The sause is what really got me, nice and creamy, perfect on a cold night!  The pre-portioned nutritional meals help you to stay on track especially at dinnertime.  This helps me a lot since I pretty much can put down twice as much as my husband at any given meal.  There is no guessing how much you should eat, its all on the label.  All the meals are portion controlled and have less than 400 calories, and if you are on the Weight Watchers point system, 8-10 points. 

There are two ways to prepare these meals, in the microwave and on the stove top.  I prefer the stove top method, just makes it more of a home cooked meal to me.  This size of frozen dinner will fill you up for sure, it will fill up your husband as well and if you prepare it on the stovetop, you don't even have to tell him it was a frozen dinner ;)  There are five varieties of Satisfying Selections to choose from,

Sesame Chicken, Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo, Ziti with Meatballs  and Cheese, Chicken with Broccoli and Cheese, and Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry.  I loved both the Alfredo (did I mention that already?) and the Sesame Chicken, now I'm going to have to try the other ones.

The Smart Ones Satisfying Selections are really what I have been looking for to help me stay on track and reach my goals.  With the larger portion size, the great taste and the convenience, its my go to dinner these days.

Disclosure: This post is part of a SocialMoms product evaluation, for which I’ve been selected. I’ve been compensated for my time with 6,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Heinz.

Holiday Gift Guide: Kre-O Transformers Construction Sets

Before I've even had a chance to catch my breath from everyday life, November is half over and the Holiday season is HERE!  Many of us, including me for once, have started their shopping by now....if not, you have at least thought about it.  Every year I have the same dilemma....what to buy for my son.  My daughter is easy, she has so many interests and hobbies that you really have tons to choose from.  My son is harder, he too has lots of interests, but he is a boy who loves video games and if I allowed it, that would be all he did.  I try to come up with some gifts that will pull him away from the TV and games.  When I think back to my childhood and what kinds of activities I enjoyed doing with my brother, the only thing that pops into my head is building with construction sets.  We could sit for hours and build together.  While shopping around for construction sets, I stumbled on Hasbro's new Kre-O Transformers sets.  These totally screamed at me as the perfect gift for my son, he loves Transformers. 

These building sets are sooo cool and each one is a 2 in 1.  The one above, bumblebee is my favorite and he loves bumblebee.  You can build him as a robot or a sports car.  The set contains 335 KRE-O construction pieces which include 3 figures.  If you build him into a robot, you can convert his wings into a glider for the KREON figures to ride on, and if you make him into the sports car, 2 figures can ride inside.  

The suggested age for this construction set is slightly older than my son's age but that is perfect because it will give us more reason to build with him.  What a wonderful bonding time activity!  I can't wait for him to unwrap this Christmas morning, sit in front of the fire place with either my husband or myself and use his creativity to build this awesome Transformer.

Building with Construction sets is also good for improving fine motor skills and problem solving skills.  I also think it teaches patience, it takes a little bit of time to put it together and see the final product....I love that.  I think these sets are very resonably priced and start at $7.99 (and up), the bumblebee one is $24.99 which is a great price.  If you visit the Kre-O website HERE, you can see all 12 sets that you can choose from.
So when you are doing all your holiday shopping this year, consider the joy you will bring to a child with one of these construction sets.

To celebrate the release of this new toy, Hasbro and SocialMoms asked me to write a post about spreading holiday cheer, and what better way than with an affordable gift that will be played with over and over.  You really have to check out the Kre-O Transformers construction sets for yourself!

 

New Deal on Crocs (these are so cute) and Free Shipping!

You all know Maddox is a little Croc-Crazy!  I love them for kids and there are some super cute ones on sale right now.  Click the link to get Crocband Kids Dino Camo and Crocband Tropic Flower now only $19.99 until 11/16 at Crocs.com!  Use the code FREESHIP at checkout for free shipping.  Sometimes their codes are case-sensitive so try all caps.  This deal is only for this week, free shipping code expires Dec. 31.

If for some reason the shipping code does not work, please let me know so I can take it off of this post.  Thanks!



Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II Giveaway!

The final face-off between good and evil is finally upon us as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was released on DVD yesterday, just in time for the holidays! Join Harry, Ron and Hermione as they do battle against Voldemort in the epic conclusion to the film series everyone is talking about! Take The Harry Potter Trivia Quiz and post your results in a comment below (with your email address) and you could be the lucky winner of your very own copy of the DVD! Test your knowledge in the trivia quiz and discover if you are an expert or a novice by challenging your skills.



GIVEAWAY:
Mandatory Entry
Take the quiz and post your results along with your email address in a comment below. Giveaway ends at midnight on November 25th, winner will be chosen at random. Open to US Residents only.

What is it With Doctors These Days?

I have seen my share of Doctors over the last few years, when my children are sick and they all seem to have one thing in common....a bad attitude.  What is going on?  Fist of all, when my kids get sick and I take them to Urgent care (because for some reason my kids like to get sick in the evening), the Urgent care doctors always tell me I should be taking them to their primary doctor.  When I try to get into my primary doctor, there are no openings.  Ok, thats not my main issue, I guess if I wanted to become a doctor I would do it because I wanted to help sick people get better, right?  Isn't that why people go into the medical profession?  Then why is it all these doctors are always so grumpy, or even straight up mean, and half the time they won't even look you in the eye.  I understand that they see tons of people everyday, I also understand that sometimes what my kids have may not require anything but rest....but....I'm not a Dr. to determine that, especially since my little guy always seems to get ear infections, we just don't sit and wait to see what happens.  This time when he got sick, I waited until morning and took him into my primary Doctor, as a walk in....so of course we had to wait.  Normally I really like her, but for some reason this time she was rolling her eyes and just being kind of roughn with him.  She was trying to check his ears and he wouldn't sit perfectly still (duh, you're shoving something into a 4 year olds ear) She looked at me and with the biggest attitude said "can you hold his head".  Ok.... He's 4 have some patience.  Last year I went to urgent care with my kids, was told they have bronchitis and was given a perscription for antibiotics.  I know, antibiotics for bronchitis.  They always cover their butt by saying, well I guess it could be something else so lets just give them that to be sure.  Ok, so I give them the antibiotics THAT THEY DON"T NEED.  When I went back for myself, because I didn't feel well, I got chewed out for telling that Dr. that my kids were on antibiotics.  REALLY?  I guess I must have perscribed them to myself then, huh?  The same situation just happened to my friend, the Dr. chewed her out.  She was smart and filed a complaint, I just tucked my dang tail between my legs and went home.  Are these Doctors bitter about something?  I mean isn't this their job?  We didn't go to med school, all symtoms seem to be the same for these sicknesses...sore throat, coughing, fever, runny nose.....its your job to determine what is going on and its your job to tell me how to fix it.  Apparently they don't teach people skills or bedside manner in med school.  Have any of you had issues like this with your doctor lately, maybe I missed the memo but I believe we are the ones paying them, right?

Holiday Givaway Blog Hop #1

Yikes!  There are only 45 days 'til Christmas....45....  I'm going to give all of us a nice little head start by posting the first Holiday Giveaway Blog Hop, at least its the first one for my blog.  Please only add family friendly products or you will be deleted, then hop around and enter a few yourself.  Sound good?  Ok here we go...

Wordless Wednesday, with a few words...

My son and his friend Emma.  He says he is going to marry her, I guess she likes him a little too according to her mom.  He is really sick and hasn't been to school in two days now, her mom said that she told her she is not going to school if he is not there :)  Cuteness overload!

Take Me Fishing PLUS $100 Bass Pro Shop Gift Card Giveaway

If you think back to your childhood, I bet some of your favorite memories were not the expensive vacations or shopping trips, it was most likely times you spent as a family doing something together, maybe outdoors....  One of my favorite things to do with my family is go fishing.

We are really lucky to have a beautiful Conservation Club down the road from our house where we are members, and we go fishing there as often as we can.  Fishing is one of those things that does not require a ton of expensive equipment and its so easy to learn.  All you really need is a fishing pole, bait and some patience.

At that Conservation Club we go to, they have a kids fishing derby every summer.  Last year my daughter took third place, catching 10 fish in 3 hours.  She got a trophy that she is super proud of.  She was still young enough to fish in the younger category, which meant she got to fish in the kids pond.  This year she was on the big pond but my son fished the kids pond.  He caught 7 fish, and he had just turned 4 years old!  Unfortunately, this year, neither kid placed but we still had a blast.  Anyone that knows my son know that he can't stand still for two seconds, and has no attention span, but he fished from 8 until 11 that morning, determined to do it all on his own.  It was a great day, every time we fish its a great day.  I love seeing the excitement on the kids faces every time they catch something.  They always make us take a picture to document what they caught, and they usually know what kind of fish it is too.


Fishing is fun, laid back, and relaxing.  It builds bonds with family members and creates time to share stories and listen to each other.  It helps teach patience and it is full of excitement at the same time.  If you ever wanted to get started, now is as good a time as any, the days are still nice enough to enjoy the outdoors.  My fishing pole cost me a whopping $12 and you can buy kids ones for even less than that.  Yup, I fish with a $12 bright pink pole, and guess what, everyone wants to use it!  Why not give your family poles and tackle boxes for the Holidays.  You won't just be giving them fishing equipment, you will be giving them family time.




We all live busy lives and now and then we need to just stop running around and just sit back and enjoy nature and life because before we know it, the kids will be grown and leaving home to start their own lives with their own families.  You can make fishing a family tradition that gets passed down to your kid's kids.

If you are planning to go fishing, please make sure you purchase a fishing license.  The fees go towards protecting and preserving our nation's waterways as well as enhance the sport of fishing for generations to come.  For tons of information about fishing and boating and to take the Angler's Legacy Pledge, you can visit TakeMeFishing.org. 

Angler's Legacy Pledge

As an Anglers' Legacy Ambassador,

I pledge to share my love of fishing

with at least one new person each year;

to pass on traditional skills and earned knowledge;

to pay forward the thrill of fishing

with friends and family,

my love of the great outdoors and my

commitment to a healthy environment;

and to give back what someone once gave me -

the special gift of fishing.

If you would like a chance to win a $100 Gift Card to Bass Pro Shop to get some awesome new fishing gear, all you have to do is enter below.  Open to US Residents 18 and over please.

Here is how to enter (Mandatory):

Please visit TakeMeFishing.org and take the Angler's Legacy Pledge, then come back here and leave me a comment with your email address, so I have a way to get a hold of you if you win.  Be honest, take the pledge first.  This entry is MANDATORY and must be done before any other entry will count.

Additional Entries:

• Follow this blog via Google Friend Connect +2
• Like my facebook page +2
• Like TakeMeFishing facebook page +2 
• Follow me on Twitter +2
• Follow TakeMeFishing on Twitter +2 

This giveaway will end on November 30th, at midnight.  Winner will be chosen at random and emailed, winner will have 48 hours to reply or a new winner will be chosen.  Open to US only.

"I took the pledge and spread the word while participating in a campaign for Take Me Fishing and Blog Friendly PR. I was thanked with a promotional gift pack, all opinions are my own."