I have been doing reviews for so long, that not much excites me anymore.  However, the two viscose from bamboo bath towels that I was sent made me DROOL! I am not kidding.  They are so soft that they feel like a baby blanket.  But, man are they absorbent!  Just touch them to your body and the moisture is gone!  Yeah, I am not only excited by the Bamboo Bath Towels, but MAJORLY in love!  Forget mani’s and pedi’s… these towels are what I pamper myself with!  I am saving up right now to get some bedding for my new bed!

Exclusively for my readers, Green Earth Bamboo is offering a $10.00 off a purchase of $95.00 or more at their online store!  Simply enter the coupon code 3BOYS2012 during check out.  Also, as usual, they offer free shipping for a $200.00 order!

One lucky 3 Boys and a Dog reader will win a $50.00 gift certificate to buy themselves their own little piece of Heaven!

REQUIRED COMMENT:  Visit Green Earth Bamboo and then come back and tell me what you would spend the money on if you won!

BONUS #1: Follow @grnearthbamboo and @momof3boys3702 on Twitter and RT this contest. The easiest way to retweet is to simply click the green ReTweet on the top right of this post. YOU MAY TWEET ONCE DAILY

BONUS #2: Like Green Earth Bamboo on FaceBook and 3 Boys and a Dog on FaceBook. Be sure to leave a comment on the pages so we know you are there!

Other bonus entries:

• #1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, blogging, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)
• #2. Sign up for my NEW Weekly Newsletter.
• #3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.
• #4. Put my button on your blog.
• #5. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!) Be sure to leave a comment here saying which post.
• #6 – Vote for me at Picket Fence by clicking the button on my sidebar. Be sure to leave a comment saying you did! YOU MAY VOTE ONCE DAILY!

CONTEST ENDS: at Midnight CST on March 8th

OPEN TO: USA Only

*DISCLAIMER: I was sent items by Green Earth Bamboo to help facilitate my review. Any opinions stated are strictly my own.*

Wow! How are we already 1/2 way through this?  I love seeing so many people playing along either via comments, twitter, or facebook!  I am loving this.

How are you doing on your goals?  I am doing alright on mine, but not nearly as good as I want to be.  However, my new site Southern Mom Cooks is coming along quite nicely, so I guess I can’t complain.

Update on my Blogging Goals:

• GOAL NUMBER ONE:  Increase Twitter Followers to 12,250 for @momof3boys3702 and 5,300 for @Deals_3BD – As of 02/08/2012 I am at 11,373 for main and 4,618 for deals!
• GOAL NUMBER TWO:  Increase Newsletter Subscribers to 800 – COMPLETE!!
• GOAL NUMBER THREE:  Add pictures to 10 of the 37 recipe posts missing images As of 02/08/2012 I have no idea where I am.  Since I started www.southernmomcooks.com, I have been working on it differently. LOL!
• GOAL NUMBER FOUR:  Complete A-Z Alphabet Book through K!  As of 02/08/2012 I am at the same as last week 1/2 way through G.  Someone help me with this!! Make me do it.  If you see me playing on Twitter or Facebook, remind me to get busy on this book!!

Today, let’s really think about our goals and set aside a little time EACH day to work on the ones that are straggling.  We are half way through our 12 weeks to goal challenge.  Are you 1/2 way to your goals?  Yeah, me either!

This week, I pledge to spend at least 1 full hour on goal number 3 and 1 full hour on Goal number 4!

If you have missed any of my Blogging Basics posts, you can read the Huge Tips post that lists them in order with a short description of each. Also, if you have a topic that you would like to see me tackle, be sure to email me with “Blogging Basics Request” in the subject.  You might even get your blog linked to!

Dear Ricky,

I am not an effusive person, so this letter is harder than anyone can imagine. You know me so well, that I don’t need to tell you that, though.

Yes, I tell you “I love you” every day and usually several times a day – like when you leave for work, if we talk on the phone, when you return from work, and before we fall asleep. Yes, I cook for you most days. However, I am not sure that I have ever told you just how much you really mean to me and why! In honor of Valentine’s Day and our upcoming Anniversary, I am breaking out of my shell and declaring the whys… publicly!

I love you! You are my better half, my best friend, my MAN! When something happens in my day (good or bad) you are the one I want to share it with. Jerry Maguire says it best, “You complete me!” Simple as that! I am a much better person because you are my husband.

Now, I can say “I love you” all day long, I can show it every minute of the day, but to me the “why I love You’s” are so much more important!

You are so confident in yourself! You are this big jock whose arms are as big as my thighs (although much, much harder). You coach football and baseball. You run and lift weights. Yet, you are the person in our house who will sew up a hole in the boys’ clothes and do a really good job of it.

You don’t have a problem sitting at the local dance school for two hours while your 9 year old son practices Jazz Dancing! You sit right there with all those gossiping women like it is no big deal! Although you would probably prefer that your left-handed boy play baseball, you tell him how proud you are of his dancing and gymnastics abilities and help him improve his confidence so he can deal with the mean kids at school that call him a ballerina!

You have never once complained about my cooking. While I do a good job most of the time, there have been times when I have tried something new and it turned out so nasty that I wouldn’t even eat it. Yet, you smile and say, “It isn’t that bad, Baby!” Then, proceed to get seconds!

We round each other out so well when it comes to school for our boys. When I am ready to go tear someone a new one for treating my kids bad, you gently calm me down and then help the boys work it out. You might not know that “siphel” isn’t a word, but without you our boys would be failing Math for sure! We know I have no idea what congruent lines are, nor can I divide more than a couple numbers!

I am supposed to be the writer in this family, but you do so much better at putting your feelings on paper than I ever could! For every special occasion (birthdays, anniversary’s, etc) you write the sweetest things to me on facebook and in cards.

You make me feel special! You are not shy about telling me I am beautiful (and telling others that your wife is beautiful). You let me know how proud you are of me! You ask everyday about my little blog. You notice if I get a haircut. You rub my back when it hurts, even if you are exhausted!

You are really such a good guy and treat all women as special people. You treat them like you really care! If a female is crying, you don’t run like some men! You gather her in your arms and give her words of encouragement. Sisters, Mother, Mother-in-Law, Co-Workers, and the lady next door are all special in your eyes. With that said, I don’t ever feel that those people are above me! You make me feel like the most important woman in your life and make me proud to see you comfort others.

Thank you, Ricky, for allowing me to be your wife! For loving me more than I could ever think possible! For being the Father of my (our) children! I love you!

Kelli

This note is part of the Love Letter Campaign hosted by Grammarly grammar checker. Grammarly understands how truly powerful the written word can be when it comes to expressing our love.

Have you seen the buzz?  I have a brand new site!  If you like recipes and kitchen tips, you need to head over to Southern Mom Cooks and join the weekly newsletter.  Be sure to pin your favorite recipes and leave me comments on new things you would like to see.  I would also love to answer any cooking questions you have – over there, of course!

Be sure to print out your coupons this week!  Remember, you should be able to print them twice.

Ok, on to my menu plan for this week:

Monday: Spaghetti Pie

Tuesday:  Impossible Taco Salad

Wednesday:  Leftovers

Thursday:  Pork Chops and Rice Casserole

Friday:  Red Beans and Rice

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday:  DYOT (Do your own THANG)

Don’t forget to visit Org Junkie for Hundreds more menu plans and before heading to the grocery store… Print coupons for your favorite brands and save at Coupons.com.

Looking for more ideas?  You can find plenty of recipes as well as a free menu planning sheet on my kid friendly recipes page!

I saw this and wanted to try it, because I take lots of pictures and love collages!

About CollageItFree (from their website)

CollageIt Features

Generate Collage in an Automatic Way

Another week of trolling Pinterest for the best goodies.  These are things on my to do list.  Do you have a whole list of things you want to complete from Pinterest?  It is crazy how addicting that website is, isn’t it?

I have teamed up with Susie QT Pies and Crystal and Company to bring you this weekly linky.

Since this post is all about pinning, be sure to pin this post and a few of the posted linkies.  Choose your favorite and click to your heart’s content.

So, what can you put in the linky? You can put any or all of the following items:

• 1.  Your Pinterest Board Linky
• 2.  A few of your favorite links
• 3.  A blog post of your own Pinterest Favorites or round up post!

If you aren’t on Pinterest and would like to be, simply email me with your email address in the body and I will send an invite right on over!

So, here is what I am pinning this week… I need to get my life, blogs, house in order.  I just have so much going on that what I typically use for organization isn’t cutting it anymore.  SO, I have been trolling pinterest for some new ideas and will share some of my faves with you!

1. Four Pocket Organizer from ePatterns Central!

2. 2012 Declutter Calendar from My Simpler Life

3. 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge from Little Lucy Lu

4. 7 Steps to an Organized Pantry from Family Balance Sheet

Go visit my faves and then, link up below!

So, I love my new Verizon Razor phone.  I really love it.  I pull it out continuously to play with it.  I text, video chat, talk, play games, check my email, check my social networks, tweet pictures, etc.  BUT, yesterday I found something I SERIOUSLY do not like!

I called my husband before leaving Acro with my younger two to find out if I needed to swing by baseball practice and pick up my oldest one.  My phone battery was dying, so I had to plug it in before calling.  HA! I could not even sit straight up while calling him (good thing I was sitting in a parking space) because the charger plugin is on the TOP of the phone! Yeah, you can imagine how bent over I was!

#chargerfail!

I have seen some people complaining about the battery time of it.  Maybe I don’t use mine as much as other people do, because I am really not having a problem with it.  As long as I charge it each night, it pretty much lasts me through the day. It is when I forget to charge it at night that I have an issue.  Oops!

My boys are so funny!  When I get something new in that they can eat, they immediately start setting up the chairs and TV trays.  Then, they run put on clothes.  After all that is done they say, “We are ready! Can we review those now?”

So, click through to watch my boys on video reviewing the new Ocean Spray Fruit Snacks.

Mom Says:  The flavor is really good, but I am not a gooey snack kind of girl.

The boys say: They love them!  They have asked for these snack way more than they have asked for cookies and candies.  So, in my opinion that makes them the best thing since sliced bread. LOL!

Available in two delicious varieties, Ocean Spray^® Fruit Flavored Snacks provide kids with the great tasting snacks they crave and parents with the confidence that they come from a good place. Ocean Spray^® Fruit Flavored Snacks are:

• †Made with real fruit juice and natural colors* and flavors.
• 80 calories, gluten free and contain 100% of the Daily Value of Vitamin C.
• Available with year round Double Box Tops.

In addition, you can

click here

to download a printable coupon for $1.10 off of the purchase of (2) Ocean Spray

^®

Fruit Flavored snacks today!

*colors from natural sources
†These Fruit Flavored Snacks are made with apple, pear, and cranberry juice concentrate. See package for a list of complete ingredients. They are not intended to replace fruit in the diet.

Four, that’s right, FOUR lucky 3 Boys and a Dog readers will win 6 boxes of Ocean Spray Fruit Snacks!

REQUIRED: Leave a comment telling me: Which of your favorite fruit flavors would you like to see Ocean Spray^® Fruit Snacks come out with next?

BONUS #1: Follow @momof3boys3702 on Twitter and RT this contest. The easiest way to retweet is to simply click the green ReTweet on the top right of this post. YOU MAY TWEET ONCE DAILY

BONUS #2: Like Ocean Spray and 3 Boys and a Dog on FaceBook then share this post by clicking the FaceBook share button at the bottom of this post.

Other bonus entries:

• #1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, blogging, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)
• #2. Sign up for my NEW Weekly Newsletter.
• #3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.
• #4. Put my button on your blog.
• #5. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!) Be sure to leave a comment here saying which post.
• #6 – Vote for me at Picket Fence by clicking the button on my sidebar. Be sure to leave a comment saying you did! YOU MAY VOTE ONCE DAILY!

CONTEST ENDS: at Midnight CST on February 16th

OPEN TO: USA and Canada

*DISCLAIMER: I was sent items by Ocean Spray and MyBlogSpark to help facilitate my review. Any opinions stated are strictly my own.*

I was recently given the opportunity to review the new product line, just released here in Canada from Kashi. The funny thing was that I was browsing through my weekly flyers when the package arrived and wouldn’t you know it the new product line was featured!

Included in the package were two boxes of Kashi Pita Chips in Original 7 Grain with Sea Salt and Zesty Salsa, two boxes of the Kashi Snack Crackers in Fire Roasted Vegetable and Toasted Asiago and one box of Kashi Toasted Cinnamon Crisp Cereal (my personal favorite ).

The Pita Crisps are a very nice crunchy pita cracker. My favorite of the two we were sent was the Original 7 Grain with Sea Salt, but the rest of my family really enjoyed the Zesty Salsa, these were a big hit for snack time!

The Snack Crackers were also a favorite with my kids, though my husband and I didn’t really like the Toasted Asiago. The Fire Roasted Vegetable were very nice and a big hit with my 2 year old!

Both the Pita Crisps and the Snack Crackers are made with natural ingredients and Kashi’s Seven Whole Grains and Sesame blend.

Now my personal favorite and highly recommended new product is the Toasted Cinnamon Crisp cereal! It has just the right crunch and cinnamon balance. It’s sort of a mixture of granola and crunchy oat cereal, similar to Cheerios but broken up. I found myself reaching for it as an evening snack. The cereal is a good source of protein and a very high source of fibre.

The new product line just rolled out nationwide this January, look for it in your local grocery store.

*Disclaimer: I was sent the above mentioned products from Kashi to help facilitate my review, all opinions are strictly my own*

Good morning!  Here it is the 1st of February and we are about 1 quarter of the way through our goals.  How is everything going?  I am not putting the linky anymore because I just didn’t have enough interest.  So, if you are playing along, please leave your link in the comments section!

OK on to my 12 Weeks to Goal blogging goals and how they are going:

Update on my Blogging Goals:

• GOAL NUMBER ONE:  Increase Twitter Followers to 12,250 for @momof3boys3702 and 5,300 for @Deals_3BD – As of 02/01/2012 I am at 11,185 for main and 4,472 for deals!
• GOAL NUMBER TWO:  Increase Newsletter Subscribers to 800 – As of 02/01/2012 I am at 832!  I reached my goal!!  Whoo hoo!!
• GOAL NUMBER THREE:  Add pictures to 10 of the 37 recipe posts missing images As of 02/01/2012 I have no idea where I am.  Since I started www.southernmomcooks.com, I have been working on it differently. LOL!
• GOAL NUMBER FOUR:  Complete A-Z Alphabet Book through K!  As of 02/01/2012 I am at the same as last week 1/2 way through G.  This is not going well! I have gotten bored with it because it is taking me so long.  I really need some motivation to get some of this knocked out!

This week, let’s talk about Facebook.  How to get the interaction up and the likers up.  Here’s what I (and my assistant) have done in increase my facebook Fans.  It must be working because at the time of my writing this, I had about 200 less than 4,000 fans.

#1 – Ask Questions!  Come up with a list of fun things like “What are you wearing today?” and “What are you having for supper?” and put or of them one a few times a week. 

#2 – Ask advice!  If you are stuck about something or unsure about something, ask on your fan page!  I found that I go to my fan page more and more often these days instead of (or in addition to) asking my family.  People love to help others! It works!

#3 – Visit other sites’ Fan pages as your site.  Meaning?  Log into Facebook on the right hand drop down menu and select “use facebook as page” then scroll through and start commenting on half a dozen or so pages.  It sparks interest! Not only do they come check you out, but so do their readers.