We Like Stuff

au pair

noreply@blogger.com (Katie Swaner) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:17:00 +0000

I have to be honest with you. This review is really, uh, well, the business doesn't really fit my needs. Even though the service is definitely appealing. I mean, who wouldn't want an au-pair around to help out and give your kids personalized acre and one-on-one attention? The idea of a woman specifically trained in CPR and first aid, and who has experience caring for children, living right there in the house with you? Is nice. AuPairCare is a company that provides au pairs from another country that have been carefully screened and trained in childcare. It seems extremely affordable, if you have more that one child, at only $300 per week for personal at-home care. For comparison, I pay $317 a week at a day care center. it makes me jealous right now thinking of all that time and hassle (and money) I could save by taking the trip to daycare each day out of my schedule.

Unfortunately, there are several things precluding this from being an option for us. But if an au pair is what you're looking for, I'd recommmend checking out http://www.aupaircare.com/. hey've had over 18 years experience placing caregivers with American families, and have placed more than 30,000 au pairs. And if you use the code BSNAPP when applying online, you save $300.

This review was made possible by MomSelect.

Giveaway - TurboTax

noreply@blogger.com (Katie Swaner) — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:23:00 +0000

Gotcha. I'm not really giving away TurboTax. But if I were, how cool would that be? I have to buy it every year (Except last year when State Farm started putting it on their website for their customers to use for free. I hope they do that again this year cause it was teh awesome. I love TurboTax. And I've worked with taxes. Some of the blockheads are truly ignorant. I don't trust their software.)

Instead, I have 3 cute little "rompers" to give away. You can see them here. What? You don't know what a romper is? Me neither. In my uncultured point of view, it's a onesie. to-may-to, tom-ah-to. Either way. it's super cute.

Why do I have these? To let you all (all 5 of you) know about the current contest going on sponsered by TurboTax. Every year, they have a Cutest Little Tax Deduction contest. You can submit pictures of your last minute tax deduction (otherwise known as your new baby) and one lucky baby, born between Dec. 1-31, 2008, will win a United States savings bond worth $5,000 (up to $10,000 upon maturity). It's super easy to enter. Just upload a photo at http://www.cutesttaxdeduction.com/ (Click the "Create Entry"tab next to "View Photos" at the bottom).

I think the onsies are hilarious, becuase if I had a baby due at the end of the year, I'd be pissed if I missed out on my tax deduction. One of my friends has a niece who was the first baby born in 2007. If that was me, I'd be cussing out my doctor. "Couldn't you have been 5 minutes faster? You owe me $1000, a**hole!" Cause I'm a tightwad, like that.

Anyway, tell anyone with a December baby about the contest at http://www.cutesttaxdeduction.com/. and enter them here for a chance to win one of 3 onsies/rompers/little-one-piece-shirts-that-snap-at-the-bottom, whatever you feel like calling them. I'm not ending this one until Jan 11th. The onsies are marked as size 6 months, so they'll still fit by the time the contest is over :)

To enter here, just leave a comment telling me about the baby you hoping to win this for. easy peasy. And don't forget to check out the cutest baby contest. (And as always, if you're subscribed here or at my personal blog, you can get extra entries by leaving a comment for each subscription)

Hp Photosmart Express gift card winners

noreply@blogger.com (Katie Swaner) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:00:00 +0000

I know I got some entries from people that came over from the 5 minutes around the blogosphere post over at 5 minutes for mom. I love that site. Did you know that there are also links to a bunch of Mom owned stores and that Susan and Janice run a store (or 2) of their own? I only wish I had known about A Rocking Horse to Love that Christmas I was lookiing for a rocking horse for Ally. We got a wooden one and I have serious regrets. Theirs look so soft and fun. Oh well.

Anyway ... on to the winners

Ginny
Eli's Lids
Sally
The Holdaway's
Wendy

Congrats! You'll be receiving an email from me and I'll get them mailed out to you as soon as I get your contact info. Everyone else, stay tuned. I'm sure I'll have more soon

Finalist!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Katie Swaner) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:05:00 +0000

Hey, my picture made the finalists!! I could definitely use the $500 grocery card, so go vote for me please! Please!

Vote here: http://www.5minutesformom.com/4857/prego-photo-contest-finalists/

Scroll down. I'm number 8. Yes, I know it's not my kid, but it's a good picture.

Send the link to everyone you know. Voting is by IP address, so have everyone in the family vote from a different computer. Win me some money people!

HP Photosmart Gift Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Katie Swaner) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:23:00 +0000

As anynoe who reads at Life, the Universe, and Everything could tell you, I take a lot of pictures. At a recent birthday party, I just let the continuous burst go on my camera. I took 33 pictures in a row of 10 kids. Since they were 5 year olds, only about 2 of them were any good. But I kept them all anyway. Cause even if they weren't all staring at the camera, they were all being themselves, whether it was falling over laughing or sticking a foot in someone else's face. Anyway, I take upwards of 200 pictures in a normal month. but now that it's birthday/holiday season, I'm sure even that will increase.

With all these pictures, you'd think I have bookshelves full of albums. You couldn't be more wrong. My printer sucks. And ink is expensive. In fact, I don't even know for sure if the color cartridge in my printer works right now. The last time I printed pictures was because the day care was doing a unit on pets and they wanted pics of ours for class. So I printed a couple at Walgreens. Which means I have to upload my pictures and wait for them to print them for me*.

But recently MomSelect sent my some gift cards for the HP Photosmart Express station. The Meijer near me had a station (is there one near you? Find out), so off I went to try it out. It is seriously easy to use. I brought mine in on a USB drive and had absolutely no problems. The process was painless and the pictures were clear and great quality. If you're in a hurry and don't have time to wait for the one hour processing, this is a wonderful alternative. But if not, most stores that have the HP printersalso have a partnership with Snapfish and you can even go the online route that way.

So who wants to try it out? I have 10 gift cards good for 10 free 4X6 prints to giveaway to 5 lucky winners (two cards, 20 prints, per person). Leave a comment before Nov 23 midnight central time and you'll be entered. Simple, right? Enjoy.

For an extra entry, subscribe to my feed here and leave a second comment telling me you did. For a third, subscribe to my personal blog and leave another comment. Each comment will be your extra entry, so make sure you make a comment that you've done so (or are already subscribed).

*which, honestly, I don't mind at all. In the interest of full disclosure, I upload my pictures to Walgreens every month anyway as method of off-site storage. Then I pass out my password to my family, so I don't have to print pictures for anyone ever again. Laziness rules.

Build-A-Bear winner

noreply@blogger.com (Katie Swaner) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:22:00 +0000

Julie is the lucky winner. Thanks everyone for visiting.

Basket of Indulgence

noreply@blogger.com (Katie Swaner) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:51:00 +0000

Last week, I offered up a Basket of Indulgence from Chex Mix, sight-unseen. From the description, I knew it was going to be good, and I wasn't disappointed. The promotion was to promote their new Turtle Chex Mix bars, and as soon as I pulled them out of the box, the kids were begging to have one. Of course, they were in the middle of supper and hadn't finished eating yet, so I used it to my advantage. Ally ate all her food, so she got a Chex Mix bar as a treat after. I have to say that she was quite pleased. They're all gooey and sticky and just smell decadent. And of course they're tasty. Each bar is only 150 calories and has at least 8 grams of whole grain, according to the package, so it's not all bad for you. Whole grain is good, right?

Ally thought so.

And then I lit a candle and filled the house with the smell of chocolate. Well, that was the idea, but I have to say that the candle was a bit of a letdown. Not very strong. I didn't expect much from it though. It was just a little tealight candle.

The lotion smelled great though. Tasty. And slightly familiar... not really carmel-y, more like... drunk. It smells just like a mudslide. mmmm... So whenever I wear it, I have an overpowering urge for a tasty beverage. Sadly, I don't get to indulge that very often (contrary to someone's opinion) But back to the lotion. It's not to thick. In fact, it says it's whipped buttercream lotion and feels really light when you rub it in. And the smell is much stronger in the bottle than on. It's actually pleasant.

As far as the spa supplies, I figured I'd have to teach the children to use them on me. We all know Rob's not the type. besides, it only seems fair. They are the ones who cause me most of the stress I need relief from. So first I set Ally to work. She didn't do too bad, but I have to get her to work on her muscles. I need a little more pressure.

Anya? Well, let's just say Anya didn't quite understand the theory behind (heh) the back massage. But (heh, again. I'm 12) she tried.

All in all, the spa stuff was just icing. The Chex Bars were the real product to review and the kids loved them. I'm sure they'll be begging for them the next time we go to the store. And honestly, I don't see much reason to say no.

Build-A-Bear giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Katie Swaner) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 19:19:00 +0000

For a long time, we never had a Build-A-Bear in our mall. I kept hearing about how much fun creating your own stuffed animal was and how great it was to dress them and accessorize them. Stupid little small town (although we're the capital of the freaking state!). What kind of mall doesn't even have a Build-A-Bear?

And now, we finally have one. Yippee! The kids love it. I try to stay out, because we have so many stuffed animals of our own at home already, but they like to look around at all the stuff there even if we don't make one. That's the coolest part anyway. You get to play dress-up with your bear (or other animal).

But, it's even cooler than that. At Build-A-Bearville you can create a playmate matching your Build-A-Bear friend and play games with them online. As soon as I remember to renew Ally's anti-virus softward and get Rob to re-enable the wireless connection on her computer, I'm going to let her sign-up. She's going to be thrilled. There's nothing better than playing a computer game with your own stuffed animal as company.

And, now, thanks to MomSelect your kid can play along too (Not really. You don't have to have a bear to register. Check it out anyway). Each animal has an id and key code on it's birth certificate that allows you to activate it's online persona. And they have lots of animals available for only $10! So I have a $10 gift certificate to give out to someone who needs a new friend. Or maybe to someone who already has a bear and wants to accessorize a little more. All you need to do it go to the Build-A-Bear website and let me know what you'd use your $10 for. Easy peasy.

Enter through Sunday Nov 9th (central time) and I'll choose a winner Monday. And don't forget to come back on Monday. I'll have another giveaway next week.

If you don't want to receive emails from me in regard to future contests, please let me know.

Frito-Lay

noreply@blogger.com (Katie Swaner) — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:27:00 +0000

Everyone knows that too much sodium is bad for you, and especially for your kids. Which is why I try to steer the kids away from chips as snacks. And it's why they always ask for them anyway. So when I heard that Frito-Lay was coming out with a new line of low salt snacks, I said "Yes, send me some!" So the other day, I was thrilled to see a package on my doorstep. (Does anyone else get that feeling? I love getting mail. Even when I know it's coming. Especially packages) And I'm happy to say the taste hasn't changed with the removal of the salt. They're still just as good as before. In fact, I'm eating some right now.

I received a bag of Fritos Corn Chips form the new Pinch of Salt line of products. The Pinch of Salt line is also available in Lay's Classic Potoato Chips, Ruffles Potato Chips, and Tostitos Tortilla Chips. Pinch of Salt products contain 30 to 50% less sodium than their original counterparts. There's only 75mg per serving, which is way less than your average snack food (goldfish have about 230 per serving, for example). So if the kids are whining for chips, I won't feel so bad to break open a bag of these.

I also received a sample of the new True North products. This is not just a less un-healthy version of an old snack though. These are different. And they are delicious. I got a bag of Almond Clusters and a bag of Pecan Almond Peanut Clusters. They're a 100% natural conglomeration of nuts and ... something else. The nuts are all stuck together with this tasty sweet something and cut into bite-size squares. They're made from all natural ingredients, and have 5g protein per serving. That's awesome to me, since Ally doesn't like to eat meat. I'm always trying to shove some protein in her mouth one way or another. (So why didn't I give her more of my sample bag? Because I had to make sure my research/taste-testing was completely thorough. And they're yummy)

So the almond clusters were probably my favorite, which actually surprised me. But they have a little more of a distinctive taste to them. The sweetness is most noticeable. It's kinda like a (realy light) toffee flavor. The Pecan Almond Peanut Clusters are certainly tasty, but the flavor is more predominantly peanut. My daughters liked them bith. Anya even asked for more immediately - with her mouth still full.

The only problem I have is that there are quite a few crumbs in the bottom. I'm thinking maybe the packaging could be better to prevent that. But honestly, it's not any different in the cans of nuts I've bought for years. And it's a whole lot easier to tip the bag into my mouth to get every last crumb than it is with the old cans. And those crumbs are still pretty tasty.

We Like Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Katie Swaner) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:39:00 +0000

It occurs to me that if I am reviewing things, and giving stuff away, I need to bite the bullet and actually maintain a seperate blog for it. So here it is. On those infrequent occasions that people want to give me free stuff, or better yet, let me give you guys free stuff, I'll be writing here. Since I have BlogHer ads on the other site, I'm not supposed to do those sorts of things there. Something about conflicting ads. Which I can see. I mean if I decided to review Pampers, and Huggies were advertising with BlogHer, they might get a little miffed. (btw, Pampers wins hands down) So I'll be using this little corner of the blog world instead for that sort of thing.

Blogger sucks

noreply@blogger.com (Katie Swaner) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:18:00 +0000

Since blogger stopped allowing people to post their own non-blogger-type blogs, I've been reduced to signing in with this id. Mostly because I'm lazy and dont' want to type my name everywhere. So if you're looking for me, try over here or email me at ktjrdn at yahoo dot com

moved

noreply@blogger.com (Katie Swaner) — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 22:52:00 +0000

now I'm at http://ktjrdn.typepad.com

not here

noreply@blogger.com (Katie Swaner) — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 18:35:00 +0000

Hey, I needed a blogger id so I could post comments without being anonymous. my blog is at http://ktjrdn.tripod.com/whats_new/