We love sharing family friendly shows and entertainment here at Tough Cookie Mommy.  This is especially true when these shows are available for family fun within the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut Tri-State area.  That is why we are very excited to introduce you to the 2012 Nuclear Cowboyz® tour at IZOD Center on March 2-3, 2012.

    Nuclear Cowboyz is a freestyle motocross tour that is full of high octane-fueled entertainment.  The show depicts the legend of two freestyle motocross tribes  whose survival in their futuristic world is acted out through freestyle aerial feats, stunts that surely defy gravity, and pyrotechnic displays accompanied by hard rock music and a narrative full of non stop action. 

    The 2012 Nuclear Cowboyz tour boasts having one of the best casts of freestyle motocross, trials and quad riders ever joined together to perform under one roof.  They include recent X Games 17 medalists Mike Mason, New Jersey’s Ronnie Faisst and Adam Jones with Taka Higashino, Beau Bamburg, Derek Garland, Nixey Danielson, Brody Wilson, Jimmy Fitzpatrick, Dustin Miller, Wes Agee, Geoff Aaron, Keith Wineland, Derek Guetter and brothers Colton and Caleb Moore.

    There are various, affordably priced ticket purchasing options to view the 2012 Nuclear Cowboyz tour including kid’s seats that start at just $15!  Tickets are available at the IZOD Center Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations or by phone at 800-745-3000.  Advance adult ticket prices are $45.00 and $125.00 for VIP Fallout Zone seats, which includes an exclusive opportunity to meet the riders.  Tickets are $2.00 more on the day of the performance.  Additional facility fee and taxes may apply.

    You can also choose to experience Nuclear Cowboyz with a VIP Fallout Zone ticket!  A limited number of tickets are set aside for the BIGGEST Nuclear Cowboyz fans.  These tickets include premium seating as well as admission to a private meet and greet with the Nuclear Cowboyz stars where you will receive a commemorative VIP Fallout Zone Credential and poster.  This is only available to VIP ticket holders so don’t wait as these seats are extremely limited and will go fast!

Giveaway:

Nuclear Cowboys would like to give one reader of Tough Cookie Mommy 4 tickets to take their family to see the show!

Please click on the word “more” below to enter this giveaway using Rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

© 2012, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.

    The time has come for another Monday Mingle. It is always a pleasure to meet those of you who are linking up for the first time and to see those of you back who have been linking up for a long time.

    Please note that I have decided to remove Google Friend Connect from this blog since Google will be shutting it down for all non-Blogger blogs come March. Please make sure you don’t miss any Monday Mingles and remember to subscribe via email.

    This blog hop continues to be for everyone with NO RULES. Personally, I hate having to follow a bunch of rules just to connect with all of you so this hop will continue to be RULE FREE!

    I hope you are all ready for a great week of networking. So please link up and follow each other on Google Friend Connect, Facebook, or Twitter. Monday Mingle will always be easy and fun because nobody wants to follow some boring list of blog hop rules. Here are the rules:

WELCOME TO MONDAY MINGLE!

1) Please find it in your heart to follow my blog on or Facebook , Google+ , or subscribe via email since I am the genius who came up with this idea, plus I would really appreciate it!

2) If you leave me a comment letting me know that you are following me through Monday Mingle, I can follow you back.

3) Follow as many blogs as you would like from the Linky and make sure that you comment that you found them through Monday Mingle so they can follow you back.

4) Please note that this is a family blog. Any text that is inappropriate or deemed inappropriate by me will be removed. I reserve the right to remove anything that I feel conflicts with the overall theme of my blog.

5) Have fun and Mingle!

6) Feel free to snag the Monday Mingle button code in the sidebar and post it on your own blog to help spread the word.

Have a great week, Everyone!

© 2012, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.

    It seems like every single time I turn around, I am hearing about the dangers of ingesting the chemicals that are used to make the bottles used for bottled water and soft drinks.  Add that with the fact that all of these discarded bottles are not being recycled and end up polluting the environment, and I realized that it was time to look for another alternative. 

    Naturally, I started doing some research and found out that Tazzini makes a stainless steel reusable bottle that has received some raving reviews.  Of course, we can never take someone else’s word for how great something is so I decided that I had to try one out for myself and for my family. 

    Tazzini stainless steel bottles are BPA and toxin free and claim to be safer than plastic and aluminum bottles.  They are leak-proof and easy to clean which is like music to the ears of mothers of young children who are notorious for making a mess.  I especially loved that they are 100% recyclable and can hold up to 24 oz. 

    As soon as I took the bottle out of the box, I fell in love with its sleek design along with its peace sign design.  The bottle has an easy to open spout which I have never seen on any reusable bottle before. 

    We decided to fill it up with water and try it out for my son’s basketball game.  I am happy to say that my son loved the bottle because he said that it kept his water cold throughout the whole game and that the spout was very easy to drink from.

    You can learn all about how Tazzini reusable bottles are helping to improve the environment one bottle at a time by visiting their website and signing up for their newsletter.

Giveaway:

Tazzini is giving away one stainless steel reusable bottle in either their Earth Map or Peace Sign design to a reader of Tough Cookie Mommy!

© 2012, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.

    The time has come for another Monday Mingle.  It is always a pleasure to meet those of you who are linking up for the first time and to see those of you back who have been linking up for a long time. 

    Please note that I have decided to remove Google Friend Connect from this blog since Google will be shutting it down for all non-Blogger blogs come March.  Please make sure you don’t miss any Monday Mingles and remember to subscribe via email.

    This blog hop continues to be for everyone with NO RULES. Personally, I hate having to follow a bunch of rules just to connect with all of you so this hop will continue to be RULE FREE!

    I hope you are all ready for a great week of networking. So please link up and follow each other on Google Friend Connect, Facebook, or Twitter. Monday Mingle will always be easy and fun because nobody wants to follow some boring list of blog hop rules. Here are the rules:

WELCOME TO MONDAY MINGLE!

1) Please find it in your heart to follow my blog on or Facebook , Google+ , or  subscribe via email since I am the genius who came up with this idea, plus I would really appreciate it!

2) If you leave me a comment letting me know that you are following me through Monday Mingle, I can follow you back.

3) Follow as many blogs as you would like from the Linky and make sure that you comment that you found them through Monday Mingle so they can follow you back.

4) Please note that this is a family blog. Any text that is inappropriate or deemed inappropriate by me will be removed. I reserve the right to remove anything that I feel conflicts with the overall theme of my blog.

5) Have fun and Mingle!

6) Feel free to snag the Monday Mingle button code in the sidebar and post it on your own blog to help spread the word.

Have a great week, Everyone!

© 2012, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.

    We are huge Star Wars fans in my home and I really don’t know anyone who doesn’t love Star Wars.  This February, General Mills Big G cereals want to help celebrate the 3D launch of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace  by featuring collectable Star Wars pens in packs of participating cereals. 

    You won’t have to travel to foreign galaxies in order to see exciting Podraces or watch the thrilling lightsaber battle at the end.  Instead, you can collect all eight exclusive Star Wars pens that feature iconic Episode I characters including: Anakin Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi, Queen Amidala, Yoda, R2D2, C3PO, Jar Jar Binks and Darth Maul.  These pens will bring the force right to your breakfast table!

    All you have to do is purchase any participating Big G cereals and find one of the eight collectable pens inside each box.  Big G cereals are made with whole grain and are an excellent source of calcium for your entire family. Participating Big G cereals include Cinnamon Toast Crunch® (12.8 oz.), Lucky Charms®(11.5 oz.), Reese’s® Puffs (13 oz.), Cheerios® (14 oz.), and Cookie Crisp® (11.25 oz)

    My boys were thrilled with the Star Wars pens because the characters look realistic and they are very colorful.  I was thrilled to receive two of our favorite cereals which were Cheerios and Cinammon Toast Crunch.  It was a win/win situation because the boys munched on cereal while they drew pictures with their new Star War pens!

Giveaway:

General Mills is giving away a prize pack containing 2 boxes of Big G cereal, 4 Star Wars Character pens, Star Wars sticker sheet and Star Wars magnets to one reader of Tough Cookie Mommy!

© 2012, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.

    Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and what better time than this to bake up some cookies for your sweetheart or for your loved ones.  This is definitely a treat that you can make with love and serve straight from the oven.  New Valentine’s Day Pillsbury® Ready to Bake!™ Shape® Cookies will fill your home with love and now the magic of Disney®.

    These cookies are quick and convenient to bake and are ready to enjoy in 8-10 minutes.  It will take less time to actually bake them then to run to your local grocer and purchase them!  Your family will love them because they are delicious and because they feature some of their favorite Disney characters, including Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Disney Princesses Belle, Cinderella and Tiana.

    This is a perfect way to get those you love the most together on Valentine’s Day.  Everyone will enjoy baking and eating them.  My sons definitely had more fun eating the Pillsbury® Ready to Bake!™ Shape® Cookies than baking them.  Luckily, they were ready in such a short amount of time that I was able to avoid a complete mutiny in my house.  All I kept hearing as the cookies were baking was, “Are they ready yet?”

    To spread the love even further, you can visit this link to download a printable coupon for $1.10 off of the purchase of (1) package of Pillsbury® Ready to Bake!™ Shape® Cookies today!

Giveaway:

Pillsbury® is giving away a prize pack containing a VIP coupon to purchase a package of Pillsbury® Ready to Bake!™ Shape® Cookies, a cookie jar, a cookie spatula, and an oven mitt to one reader of Tough Cookie Mommy.

© 2012, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.

    My boys love to have fun playing indoors and outdoors.  We’ve had the pleasure of reviewing Aerobie products before but we were especially excited to have the opportunity to check out the Aerobie Megatop.  It is a high-performance, precision-crafted spinning top that can achieve spin rates of over 3000 rotations per minute.  As the mother of two boys, I can tell you that this kind of fun is right up their alley.

    The Megatop comes with a catching plate for tricks and a Spin-booster to speed up and prolong the spin.  Although it is recommended for ages 8 and up, I can tell you that my five year old also had a blast spinning his Megatop.  As a matter of fact, us adults enjoyed playing with it just as much as the kids did.  It really kept the kids occupied for hours and my husband and I loved the fact that the boys could play with it outside and inside the house.

    We really enjoyed doing tricks with the Megatop and playing games with it.  Since it is perimeter weighted and precision crafted we were able to enjoy amazingly long spins.  My sons loved competing against each other as they each reviewed their own Megatop and took turns seeing whose top could spin the longest.  I personally liked that the Megatop comes in a variety of colors and that the boys had such a great time playing with it for hours.  Make sure you visit the Aerobie website to see their wide range of fun indoor and outdoor products!

    Check out this video to see how the Aerobie Megatop works!

    Giveaway:

Aerobie is giving away an Aerobie Megatop to one lucky reader of Tough Cookie Mommy!

© 2012, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.

    The time has come for another Monday Mingle.  It is always a pleasure to meet those of you who are linking up for the first time and to see those of you back who have been linking up for a long time. 

    Please note that I have decided to remove Google Friend Connect from this blog since Google will be shutting it down for all non-Blogger blogs come March.  Please make sure you don’t miss any Monday Mingles and remember to subscribe via email.

    This blog hop continues to be for everyone with NO RULES. Personally, I hate having to follow a bunch of rules just to connect with all of you so this hop will continue to be RULE FREE!

    I hope you are all ready for a great week of networking. So please link up and follow each other on Google Friend Connect, Facebook, or Twitter. Monday Mingle will always be easy and fun because nobody wants to follow some boring list of blog hop rules. Here are the rules:

WELCOME TO MONDAY MINGLE!

1) Please find it in your heart to follow my blog on or Facebook , Google+ , or  subscribe via email since I am the genius who came up with this idea, plus I would really appreciate it!

2) If you leave me a comment letting me know that you are following me through Monday Mingle, I can follow you back.

3) Follow as many blogs as you would like from the Linky and make sure that you comment that you found them through Monday Mingle so they can follow you back.

4) Please note that this is a family blog. Any text that is inappropriate or deemed inappropriate by me will be removed. I reserve the right to remove anything that I feel conflicts with the overall theme of my blog.

5) Have fun and Mingle!

6) Feel free to snag the Monday Mingle button code in the sidebar and post it on your own blog to help spread the word.

Have a great week, Everyone!

© 2012, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.

    The time has come for another Monday Mingle.  It is always a pleasure to meet those of you who are linking up for the first time and to see those of you back who have been linking up for a long time. 

    Please note that I have decided to remove Google Friend Connect from this blog since Google will be shutting it down for all non-Blogger blogs come March.  Please make sure you don’t miss any Monday Mingles and remember to subscribe via email.

    This blog hop continues to be for everyone with NO RULES. Personally, I hate having to follow a bunch of rules just to connect with all of you so this hop will continue to be RULE FREE!

    I hope you are all ready for a great week of networking. So please link up and follow each other on Google Friend Connect, Facebook, or Twitter. Monday Mingle will always be easy and fun because nobody wants to follow some boring list of blog hop rules. Here are the rules:

WELCOME TO MONDAY MINGLE!

1) Please find it in your heart to follow my blog on or Facebook , Google+ , or  subscribe via email since I am the genius who came up with this idea, plus I would really appreciate it!

2) If you leave me a comment letting me know that you are following me through Monday Mingle, I can follow you back.

3) Follow as many blogs as you would like from the Linky and make sure that you comment that you found them through Monday Mingle so they can follow you back.

4) Please note that this is a family blog. Any text that is inappropriate or deemed inappropriate by me will be removed. I reserve the right to remove anything that I feel conflicts with the overall theme of my blog.

5) Have fun and Mingle!

6) Feel free to snag the Monday Mingle button code in the sidebar and post it on your own blog to help spread the word.

Have a great week, Everyone!

© 2012, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.

    It seems like every single time I turn around I learn that one of my old students just had a baby.  Now, of course we all know that the birth of a baby is a joyous event that should be celebrated.  However, I can’t help thinking that these young girls have no idea what they are getting into.  Most of these girls are in their late teens or early twenties and I doubt that they are fully aware of how a woman’s life changes after she becomes a mother.

    I had my oldest son when I was 26 and I really thought that this was a perfect age to have a child and that I was fully prepared to be a parent both emotionally and financially.  Boy was I wrong!  A close friend of mine made a great point when she stated that nobody is ever really completely ready to have a child and that each person learns how to parent through trial and error.  This statement totally makes sense to me now as I reflect upon everything I have learned about motherhood.

    It also makes me sad that these young women feel that dropping out of school and having babies is their only option.  Doesn’t it seem ironic that we have come so far in the fight for women’s rights only to have our young women regress to a time when women could not pursue getting an education and were having children at such a young age?  This really makes me wonder about the messages that we are giving young women about their role in society.

    Let’s be realistic, being a parent is amazing and rewarding but it is damn hard and anyone who pretends that it isn’t is full of it.  It is demanding and exhausting and it totally takes over your life.  I think part of the problem is that television has romanticized the idea of having babies at a young age with popular shows about teenage mothers making it seem like everyone is doing it and it’s the cool thing to do.

    The sad part is that all of my old students come back to tell me how right I was and that having a baby is so hard.  Most of them end up raising these babies alone or with the help of their families when their children’s fathers leave or become incarcerated and it is devastating to see their dreams about living happily ever after go up in smoke. 

    Personally, I think the solution to this problem is to instill feelings of self-love and worthiness in our young people so they will put off bringing children into the world until they figure out who they are.  What do you think?

© 2012, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.