MY Ideas:

 Veggie Tales: Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving.

Knowing your vegetables never gets old. Bob the tomato, Larry the cucumber and junior the asparagus we love watching them in their adventures and this one is one of the best ones.

It is always so easy to forget the true meaning of Christmas. We just want to buy buy buy. It’s easy to forget being a review blogger because it’s like “christmas” every day. The delivery driver comes with boxes of stuff and my kids say is it a toy, is it for us? What is it?

To remind children the meaning of Christmas this time, they tell the story of St. Nick instead of the birth of Jesus. St. Nick gave to the poor. He gave out of what he had, it is more to give than to receive and even he had to learn that. So watching this made me even more sure that I want to give. Give out of the wealth that surrounds my children.

One thing we are planning on doing is my MOMS Club is going to do the Toy Drive and Cookie giveaway with our local food bank. We are going to take our children to the food bank to hand out the cookies and toys to others. I’m very excited about this and we always tell my my daughter when we are giving something away. I just want her to understand the meaning of giving.

Of course when it comes time for Christmas we’ll celebrate it the right way! No, I don’t mean with presents, I mean with honoring the birth of Jesus.

FREE Consumer DVD Gift with Purchase Offer

A gift for you! Consumers who purchase the Saint Nicholas DVD will receive a FREE VeggieTales DVD to give to a friend in need! Through this offer inside the DVD, consumers can log onto a special website and select the free VeggieTales DVD they would like to send to a friend with only $2.99 shipping and handling.

Operation Christmas Child Partnership

‘Tis better to give than receive! This fall, Big Idea has teamed up with Operation Christmas Child, a project of international Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, to help collect gifts for needy children throughout the world. More than 65,000 churches across the country will hold shoe-box gift collection events. Church leaders have the opportunity to hold a screening of Saint Nicholas where kids and families will be encouraged to “share the spirit of giving” by donating shoe-box gifts.

DVD Synopsis

Discover the power of a simple gift! Laura Carrot’s Christmas stocking might be empty this year because her dad is in danger of losing his job. While Larry thinks a letter to the North Pole should fix the problem, Bob knows what will really help…and tells the story of a little boy named Nicholas who made a discovery in Bethlehem that changed Christmas forever. But what did Nick learn and how can it possibly help Laura and her family? Find out as the Veggies discover the true joy of giving to others—at Christmas time and throughout the year!

Bonus Features:

“Give This Christmas Away” Operation Christmas Child music video

Behind The Song with Matthew West and Amy Grant

Art Gallery

Audio Commentary

Sing Along with Larry

Coloring Page:

Thanks to The Family Review Network and Big Idea we received a copy of this to review.

Fraggle Rock: A Merry Fraggle Holiday

With so many old school goodies going to DVD it’s hard to keep yourself from purchasing all of them. Last year for Christmas we purchased Fraggle Rock Season 1, 2 and 3. This year thanks to my blog Loinsgate sent us the Complete final season to review. They also sent us Fraggle Rock: A Merry Fraggle Holiday. My husband said that Fraggle Rock: A Merry Fraggle Holiday did not have anything extra on it taht wasn’t on any of the other DVD’s so we are adding it to the donation pile. The Toy Drive with MOMS Club of Woodinville and the Maltby Food Bank

Fraggle Rock: The Complete Final Season.

I loved watching Fraggle Rock. I grew up with Sesame Street, the Muppet Babies and Fraggle Rock, I was a tv junkie and I still am. I even let my kids watch too much tv. I’m not worried about it anymore because believe me they have shown no lack of intelligence. They sing the songs and dance to the tunes. It’s been great.

“Oh Look Ma,” “I caught a fraggle”.

Who doesn’t love Sprocket? He is the biggest most fluffiest of dogs. He’s super smart and knows about the Fraggle world. If only humans were so in tuned. We watched the first disc, I haven’t watched all of it yet but it’s been added to our Fraggle library.

Episode List

1. Sidebottom Blues
2. Uncle Matt’s Discovery
3. Junior Faces the Music
4. A Tune for Two
5. The Perfect Blue Rollie
6. A Brush with Jealousy
7. Wembley’s Flight
8. Red’s Blue Dragon
9. Wonder Mountain
10. Space Frog Follies
11. Boober Gorg
12. Mirror, Mirror
13. The Riddle of Rhyming Rock
14. The Voice Inside
15. The Trial of Cotterpin Doozer
16. The River of Life
17. Beyond the Pond
18. Gone But Not Forgotten
19. Mokey, Then and Now
20. Ring Around the Rock
21. Inspector Red
22. The Gorg Who Would Be King
23. The Honk of Honks
24. Change of Address

Last year my goal was to get my blog in a position to have one giveaway a day. If I had time to post properly I would have one giveaway a day. I would say I have at least 45 giveaways a month. Now that I’m doing that it’s a lot of work. There is a lot of e-mail to go through and a lot of products in and out the door.

I have readers now and I appreciate you. I really enjoy knowing you care. When you leave me a comment about making sure that I’m taking care of my depression or how my kids are doing, or laughing at the fact that I can’t read directions. My RSS feed count is up to 814 subscribers. I wonder if I stopped hosting giveaways if my number would decrease

I made my goal.

Looking back I noticed that I didn’t post every day. I only posted a few times a week and wrote about four posts on Fridays and I haven’t posted any of those Friday Memes in about a month. I was participating in Fitness Friday with the Wii Fit moms, Aloha Friday with Kailani, and writing with the Parent Bloggers Network for the PBN Blog Blasts. I was writing with them in hopes to win a prize and more often than not I won something. Aww, to go back to entering contests instead of hosting them.

Where was I last year, I was writing about pop tarts and spending too much money at Albertsons. Now, I haven’t mentioned pop tarts in a while, for the longest time it was my highest search word in my stats, not it’s Disney on Ice. Not so sure about that one. I’ve only written about Disney on Ice twice.

My stats are huge but does it mean anything?

Yes, I think I’m really trying to decide that even if I don’t have a lot of influence I’m making money on my blog. My traffic a llows me to charge a decent amount for a post, even though I go up or down depending on the source. I am part of an ad network that makes about 100.00 a month. I can get 100 entries in a giveaway without advertising it. That’s a nice thing. Sometimes I don’t get it advertised until a week after it’s posted.

My stats allow me to work with companies and make a difference. I am currently using my blog to acquire donations. I have a MOMS Club gift basket that I put together and raised over 1000.00 in products and have a toy drive that I’m putting together that should be twice as much by the time I am done with it.

My friend asked me why I was going to so much trouble with my blog.

“Because I want to make a difference”

I want to give to charity, I want to help others, I want to be a difference, in my community and on-line. I want to inspire. I GIVE MY REVIEW ITEMS AWAY!

After adding up all of the products that I have donated I was blown away that I have that much merchandise in my closet. How crazy that some bloggers keep it all or think they can’t donate it because they opened it up and tested it for a review. Guess what, keep the box it goes back in. Make a difference in your community or with Bloggers Give.

Goal for next year:

To still be here and making a difference in the blogging community

Kat is my favorite character on Eastwick because I love the thought of controlling the elements. She has the ability to control, wind, rain, water and fire. She doesn’t yet quite understand her ability or that she even has this power yet. See, she doesn’t believe in witch craft but I’m thinking she’s going to really soon.

She is also the mother of five and absolutely stunning. I love her flowing red hair and love for her friends. She would walk through fire for them. In the episode “bonfires and betrayal” that you can watch on-line now she does walk through fire trying to save her friend Joanna.

I hate to admit that I just love to watch this show at night before bedtime. Shhh, don’t tell my secret.

I have been hired by Warner Bros WB Word division to raise awareness for Eastwick on ABC.

The Natural Dentist (80.00)

  Even Flow Snugli (20)

 Logitech Video Camera (70)

Elliott Lucca (150)

Educating Esme (10)

Whooda Thought Mrs. Smith Diaper Bag (70)

Misc

Medela Nursing Bra (40)

Things Remembered (40)

Johnson and Johnson’s Gift Basket (150)

Jessica Steel Apron (33)

Puke Purse and Bath Time Set from Ready Go Baby (45)

Baby Legs (12)

My Conservation Baby (20)

Aden and Anias Swaddle (34)

Earth Mama Angle Baby (40)

Thermos Fogo (15)

  Random Books (30)

Cocooi Baby Wrap (50)

Oh Plah teething bracelet (25)

My Yoga To Go (30)

Bath Products (25)

The Big Brain Book 200 Puzzles (10)

Mama Books (30)

Hayden Harnett Tote, Olive (200)

Pumping Gloves ( 15.00)

Total Value = (1,200)

My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Adventure quotes:

“Awesome, awesome, awesome! Great, great, awesome!”
– My Mommy Reviews

"It has been playing NON-STOP, per the request of my daughter.”

– Babee Love

“If you have a girlie girl like I do she is sure to love this movie.”

–Mom Start

“A beautifully animated feature…” – A Kiss and A Peck

“With a message based on friendship making wishes come true, you’ll likely create a few new My Little Pony fans with this movie.”
– And Twins Make 5

“I’m very thankful that the makers of My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Adventure, chose to use the classic animation style that this series is known for. I still would have enjoyed this movie if CGI had been used; just not quite as much.”

– CakeBlast

“What does My Little Pony have to do with special needs children? Like many children’s characters set in story books or videos, there is often a moral to the story and a great solution worked out by friends. My Little Pony is no different…” –Examiner

“A great addition to a personal DVD library that can be enjoyed year round because it’s not overly Christmas themed.’ – Katie’s Nesting Spot

“With the winter months right around the corner, My Little Pony: Twinkle Wish Adventure is the perfect winter themed DVD.” – My Four Monkeys

“From Rainbow Dash to Star Song and Sweetie Bell to that special little wishing star, Twinkle Wish; you are sure to enjoy this My Little Pony adventure from start to finish.”

– Blogfully

“The movie is in true My Little Pony form, and you end up feeling like you are spending some time back in your own childhood.” – 5 Monkeys and 1 Ape

Roundhouse Design Collaborative, LLC sent me one of their bracelets as a review and I’m adding it to my MOMS Club donation. The huge gift basket that I’m working on for the raffle. I love it. It was easy enough for me to take out of the package and chew on it and then clean it off and place it back in the package and no one will be the wiser, unless they read my blog.

It has no taste which is nice and it’s a perfect texture for a teething child. Baby, I guess I should say but kids are getting teeth well into two years of age so that’s toddler age. My son is still chewing on things so I have a small desire to keep it but we are a spoiled family so I’m going to donate it.

Oh Plah! the teething bracelet that is fashionable for mommies to wear. So, in my opinion it is both functional and fashionable to use and wear. Let that baby have it, chew it and slobber all over it. Just clean it off after each use.

truwhip contacted me and asked me to review their product. The all natural whipped topping and I said ok, send me some. I love whipped topping. Umm, I’m at a loss of words because I threw it away. I didn’t like it. I’m a moody eater so it could be my mood so I’m not saying you shouldn’t try it. That’s up to you to decide and here are the facts presented by truwhip.

INGREDIENTS: Water, organic tapioca syrup, expeller-pressed palm kernel oil, organic cane sugar, organic palm kernel oil, contains less than 2% of each of the following: organic soy protein concentrate, sodium caseinate (milk protein), natural flavors, organic soy lecithin, xanthan gum, guar gum. Contains milk and soy.

Directions

• Thaw unopened four hours in refrigerator. Do not thaw on countertop.
• Keep product refrigerated for up to ten days. Can be refrozen.
• For longer storage, place in freezer.

The selling point for truwhip and I could probably acquire a taste for it because I can’t quite put a reason for not liking it on it. Anyways, the selling point is it is a natural whipped topping. It is not made of the same nasty stuff that Cool Whip is made of. The information they sent me about Cool Whip just absolutely disgusts me and makes me thankful I’m not using whipped topping very much at all anymore.

You can purchase truwhip at Whole Foods and other natural stores like it. I have a coupon for one free 10 oz bowl.

To Enter:

Tell me what other natural foods you like to eat

Extra Entries:

Advertise this giveaway on any giveaway site and tell me where you advertised it. 10 Extra Entries
Subscribe to my blog
Follow me on twitter tell me your twitter ID
Blog about the giveaway include a link to me and to the sponsor for 10 extra entries
Tweet the giveaway (every time you tweet you get an entry) Link to the giveaway please!!!
Comment on any other non giveaway post and come back and tell me you did
Use any of the Share options at the bottom of this post: Dig, Stumble, or fav me on Technorati (two entries for each one)
Add my button/blog to your blogroll/friend list 3 extra entries
You can vote for me too for five entries:

Leave a comment for every entry

The contest will run until November 23rd 11:59 pm Pacific. The winner will be selected by www.random.org. All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

Bringing Families back together at the table is important to both Dominos and Hasbro. America needs to be getting back into life. We need to be engaging our families with conversation, smiles, and fun. To help us do this Hasbro and Dominos have come up with many ways to save on entertainment.

First, choose from three different food combinations for 5.55. You can order BreadBowl Pastas, medium one-topping pizzas or oven baked sandwiches.

The Pizza box will have a family game board.

There will be Hasbro coupons for on-line Dominos customers

~ with any order from now until December 21st customers will receive 30.00 in money saving coupons from Hasbro.

Target stores will have Dominos peely coupons (a coupon taped to a box) on Hasbro games.

I did not read the directions.

The bottle says this product is made from plant extracts that have a very strong smell (smells great (peppermint oil), but I can still smell the bug spray part and it was so strong I got a headache). Please test in a small area. Big clue there, I did not test in a small area I sprayed the entire downstairs. UGGG. It only took 24 hours to clear out.

I think it works great, I haven’t seen any spiders since then but I just can’t use it again inside the house. I think I can continue to use it on the outside perimeter of the house though. Not sure how good it will work in the rain though. That’s another problem with living in the Pacific Northwest.

They also want to give one bottle away to one of my readers. If you are interested in trying:

Organic Ant Killer

Product Description

Kills and repels over 100 home invading pests: Ants (including Carpenter, Red Harvester, Pavement and Argentine), Beetles, Centipedes, Cockroaches, Crickets, Earwigs, Fleas, Millipedes, Pantry Pests, Pillbugs, Silverfish, Spiders, Sowbugs, Ticks and other crawling insect pests.
Unlike other insecticides, it is made from organic plant oils and kills bugs naturally to better protect your family. Plus, there’s no pesticide residue.
It’s safe. It’s effective. It’s smart. Naturally.
SHAKE WELL BEFORE USING.

READ ENTIRE LABEL (don’t make my mistake)

AND USE ACCORDINGLY.
Active Ingredients:
2-Phenethyl Propionate …………………………. 2.0%
Clove Oil …………………………………………………. 1.0%
Rosemary Oil …………………………………………. 1.0%
Peppermint Oil …………………………………………1.0%
Thyme Oil ……………………………………………….. 0.5%
Other Ingredients* ……………………………….. 94.5%
Total …………………………………………………. 100.00%
*Water, Octadecenoic Acid Potassium Salt, Lecithin

To Enter:

Visit EcoSMART and pick out something interesting and tell me about it.

Extra Entries:

Advertise this giveaway on any giveaway site and tell me where you advertised it. 10 Extra Entries
Subscribe to my blog
Follow me on twitter tell me your twitter ID
Blog about the giveaway include a link to me and to the sponsor for 10 extra entries
Tweet the giveaway (every time you tweet you get an entry) Link to the giveaway please!!!
Comment on any other non giveaway post and come back and tell me you did
Use any of the Share options at the bottom of this post: Dig, Stumble, or fav me on Technorati (two entries for each one)
Add my button/blog to your blogroll/friend list 3 extra entries
You can vote for me too for five entries:

Leave a comment for every entry

The contest will run until November 23rd 11:59 pm Pacific. The winner will be selected by www.random.org. All rules can be found under giveaway rules.