Christmas Advent and a contest *contest closed*

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Pop-Tarts®.

The video below gives the details of our homemade Christmas Advent Calendar.

We cut the stockings out of pretty scrapbook paper using a stocking stencil, wrote selected activities on the back, put numbers on the front, and strung them up on a ribbon attached with mini clothespins. For a list of my suggested activities, email me at amiedanny@msn.com

Want to win a $100 Visa gift card from BlogHer?

Sure you do! Please comment on this post and tell me your favorite holiday tradition. (Mine is visiting the LDS temple to look at the awesome Christmas lights and watch the showing of Luke II, then hit the QT for yummy hot chocolate on the way home.) Contest runs December 13, 2010 until December 25, 2010. Please leave a name and email so if you win I can contact you!

To enter, leave a comment

For a second entry, you can:

· Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)

· Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)

· Read the official rules for alternate form of entry.

You have 9 chances to win! Check out the other reviewers’ creative videos by visiting the BlogHer.com exclusive offers page.

Visit the Official Pop-Tarts site

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Visit the Official Rules.

See what else we’re doing over on my main blog, Life with the Boys.

Gingerbread Pop-Tarts and a Contest *contest closed*

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Pop-Tarts®.

I was asked to come up with something special using the limited edition Printed Fun Gingergbread Pop-Tarts from Kellogg’s.

Ginger is one of those finicky ingredients that only works with so many other flavors. Eggnog for one, but I am not a fan. Instead, I decided to mingle some hot and cold foods: ice cream topped with the crumbled Pop-Tarts and a steamy creamy cup of homemade cocoa.

These gingerbread Pop-Tarts have a little design printed on them, but you can’t see that too well once broken up.

What do you think?

Does it look like a yummy afternoon snack?

Or a holiday treat while gathered ‘round the campfire?

Everyone in the house found the combo of the gingerbread Pop-Tarts and the vanilla ice cream really tasty.

Priceless.

And the hot chocolate chaser kept us nice and warm on this really cold December day.

On to the good stuff!

Want to win a $100 Visa gift card from BlogHer?

Sure you do! Please comment on this post and tell me your favorite holiday song. (Mine is “Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella” at present) Contest runs December 13, 2010 until December 25, 2010. Please leave a name and email so if you win I can contact you!

To enter, leave a comment

For a second entry, you can:

· Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)

· Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)

· Read the official rules for alternate form of entry.

You have 9 chances to win! Check out the other reviewers’ recipes by visiting the BlogHer.com exclusive offers page.

Visit the Official Pop-Tarts site

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Visit the Official Rules.

See what else we’re doing over on my main blog, Life with the Boys.

25 Days of Gratitude Thankful Jar with $100 contest *contest closed*

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Pop-Tarts®.

We made a Thankful Countdown jar to help keep us in the Thankful spirit all month long.

We started out by following Valerie Lee's template that you can download here. It comes with directions on how to put this advent together. There are 26 Thankful-For themes as well as suggested activities for each theme.

We cut them out, rolled them up, tied them with ribbon, and put them in our Thankful Jar. November 1st we started pulling one out a day, talking about that day's Thankful subject, and then did the activity as suggested. It's a great reminder for the kids to be more thankful for every day things (and people!)

Check out the video we made!

Want to enter the contest for $100 Visa Gift card from BlogHer? Sure you do! Please comment on this post and tell me how you keep your family feeling thankful. This contest (in association with our Pumpkin Pie flavored Pop-Tarts post) runs November 11, 2010 until November 25, 2010. Please leave a name and email so if you win I can contact you!

We have had so much fun making and using our Thanksgiving Countdown. You should try it! You have 9 chances to win! Check out the other reviewers’ recipes by visiting the BlogHer.com exclusive offers page. And learn all about Pumpkin Pie flavored Pop-Tarts here.

To enter, leave a comment

For a second entry, you can:

· Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)

· Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)

· Read the official rules for alternate form of entry.

Official rules can be seen here.

See what else we’re doing over on my main blog, Life with the Boys.

Pumpkin Pie Pop-Tarts and a contest *contest closed*

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Pop-Tarts®.

We are having so much fun learning how to use our Pop-Tarts in creative ways. We again went with the dessert theme and decided to make S’mores using Pumpkin Pie flavored Pop-Tarts! Here’s what Ethan and I did to make our S’mores.

First, with mom’s help, we cut two Pop-Tarts in half.

Then put a big puffy marshmellow on two of the halves.

Have Mom microwave the marshmellows on top of the Pop-Tarts for 20-30 seconds.

Or until they get nice and puffy like this. (Watch out, the marshmellows and Pop-Tarts will be pretty warm!)

Next, slather some cream cheese on top of the two remaining halves of Pop-Tarts.

Then sprinkle some cinnamon on top of the cream cheese.

Here you can see what the Pop-Tarts look like with cream cheese and cinnamon on them.

Then smush the two halves together! (we later decided it was better to put cream cheese and cinnamon on both halves, then add and cook the marshmellow )

Doesn’t it look good?

Doncha want a bite?

“Don’t mind if I do!”

“It’s good, Mom!”

“Wanna share?”

(He didn’t.)

Want to enter the contest for $100 Visa Gift card from BlogHer? Sure you do! Please comment on this post and tell me your favorite holiday treat. Contest runs November 11, 2010 until November 25, 2010. Please leave a name and email so if you win I can contact you!

To enter, leave a comment

For a second entry, you can:

· Tweet about this post with a link to it (and put your tweet URL in a separate comment below)

· Blog about this post with a link to it (and put your blog post URL in a separate comment below)

· Read the official rules for alternate form of entry.

We had so much fun making S’mores with our Pop-Tarts. You should try it!You have 9 chances to win! Check out the other reviewers’ recipes by visiting the BlogHer.com exclusive offers page.

Official rules can be seen here.

See what else we’re doing over on my main blog, Life with the Boys.

what matters more *contest closed*

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Bayer One A Day Multivitamins.

With three active boys and a husband who is often gone on 24-48 hour shifts 2-3 times a week, there are many opportunities around here to get lost in the hustle and bustle of need to do, gotta do, wish I could do.

During any given week during this past school year we (big breath) had three scout meetings to attend, two basketball practices and two games, 3 afterschool activities (art, drama, and NEHS) and more. For them. For me, there was school and clinicals twice a week, church activities, and of course the regular house managing duties. I get a lot of help from Hubby, (when I ask, and when he's home) but for the most part, I am the driver, the shopper, the cleaner, the cook, the budgeter and more.

We all have busy lives. We all have to find that balance and learn to juggle, right? Find out what is most important, not be afraid to say 'no', and prioritize. I've been using Bayer's "What Matters to You" website (home of One A Day Women's Multivitamins) to plan my days and remember to keep the more important things at the top of my To Do list. Their "My Tree Matters" tool helps me manage the goals I have per week (or longer) while encouraging me to live a balanced and healthy life. I was able to break down my weeks into varying segments that I wanted to focus on: I chose creativity, relationships, and leisure, but I could have also chosen family, health, money, health, nutrition, and more.

This past year, certain things to me were critical for my personal well being and sanity. One was allowing myself a few minutes a day or hours a week to just sit and read for pleasure. Yes I was in school, and yes I had some pretty heavy subject matter. But there's something about just opening a book because you want to in order to escape Momhood and the constant pressures of Go Go GO. To just indulge in someone else's imaginary land and reboot, so to speak. Leisure time was paramount to me and my overall well-being.

Another thing I absolutely did not want to do without (and I think I only missed 2-3 times the whole year) was the opportunity to volunteer weekly at my children's school. Though technically not leisure time, (giving up a day of my week was a sacrifice!), there are many reasons I do this...1: I enjoy getting to know my kids' teachers. 2: I like them to know I'm an actively involved parent regarding their education. 3: I like to know what my kids are learning. 4: My kids love it. And 5: it's a great way to say thank you. Even though I'm doing it for them, I also do it for me. My children love it and I have fun with it, and it helps me slow down one day a week and better connect with my boys.

Having and acting on my priorities, including allowing for leisure time, made the busy busy year not so toxic. There were few (yes, I'll admit) meltdowns along the way, but finding a little bit of personal time to relax and a bit of a public way to give back helped me keep my world going, and helped me feel like I mattered to someone by being there for them.

For the $150 BlogHer giveaway, tell me what matters to you more? how do you prioritize your personal time? Yes, we all have our gotta do's and our need to do's, but what makes your list of just plain old wanna do's? Share your opinion here in the comments.

Contest runs 8/11/10 through 9/11/10.

Five more chances to win here, as well as one chance to win $100 from the exclusive offers page.

See here for official rules.

It's Pop-Tart Love *contest closed*

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Kellogg’s® Pop-Tarts® Toaster Pastries.

When I was first contacted about doing this review for Pop-Tarts, my first thought was about my middle son, Cameron.

He loves to create art of any kind, stick it in an envelope, tape it up (usually with masking tape--it is his adhesive of choice), and ask me to mail it to Grandma So-and-So.

One day he did just this, was busy in the kitchen with his supplies, etc, and eventually handed me a pretty thick envelope. It felt a little...off. Like it didn't feel like his usual mass of folded paper and creations.

I wavered a bit on whether I should open it or not, or just stick some stamps on it and send it on its way to Utah. But I did eventually decide I'd better find out just what he was sending USPS.

Ladies and gentleman, it was a package of Pop-Tarts. Folded up in a nice creation he had made on which he'd written on the bottom how he'd wanted to share his breakfast with her.

I laughed so hard.

I didn't send it, but I let his Grandma know that he had been generous in offering up his breakfast. And ever since then, I pat down Cameron's letters carefully before sticking postage on them.

Aren't Pop-Tarts great? Seriously the go-to quick breakfast in the morning. My kids actually like them unheated and eat them for breakfast, for treats, or just for something quick while on the go. The packaging makes them easy to take and go, and they come in a plethora of varieties. I don't know anyone who doesn't like a good package of Pop-Tarts in the morning.

We recently tried the new Strawberry Milkshake variety, something new from Kellogg's. My kids really liked the creamy strawberry insides (I had no doubt), and at one point when looking at our case of samples, my 10 year old sighed and said, "Ahh...Pop-Tart Love."

Indeed.

We were instructed to make the following fun recipe.


We cut the Strawberry Milkshake Pop-Tarts into fourths.


We then put ice cream on the non-frosted side.


Then topped with the other, sandwich-like.


We then dipped the "ice-cream sandwiches" into sprinkles.


And wrapped them in plastic wrap.


Froze them for about half an hour.


And later ate them for a fun dessert.


What's not to love?



Pop-Tarts: good.

Ice cream: good.

Sprinkles: good.

These Sprinkly Ice Cream Bites were a cute springy dessert.

To enter the giveaway for a $100 Visa gift card, comment on this entry and tell me what your kids usually eat for breakfast. Are you the type to cook something healthy and nutritious every morning? Do your kids get cold cereal? Are you breakfast-skippers? In my family alone I have one child who could do without breakfast, one who wants and asks for "porridge" every day, and one who'd be happy with cold cereal and, you guessed it, Pop-Tarts. Tell me the norm for your family.

Contest winner will be drawn on April 16th, so you only have 2 weeks to enter this one. Read and comment on other reviews here on the BlogHer.com special offers page. You have 9 other chances to win. Visit Kellogg's site for more information about Pop-Tarts and all the many varieties.

Official Rules:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents, aged 18 and older
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• Please see the official rules here: http://www.blogher.com/pop-tarts-sweepstakes-official-rules
  

Please visit my other blog, Life With The Boys.

let's talk laundry & enter the $100 Visa gift card contest *contest closed*

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and OxiClean.

I don't know about you guys, but for me when it comes to laundry, I'm kind of a fix-it-and-forget-it kind of girl.

I set up my washer by setting the temperature and load size appropriately, I put in the required soap, and I go--and I assume my laundry detergent of choice will do it's job. After all, that is it's ONE JOB right? To take out dirt and stains and clean my clothes?

I rarely check my loads before hand for specific stains. I never pretreat. Honestly, I hardly ever even bleach because it's always an afterthought way too late. (Am I supposed to put it in while the washer is loading, or only after it is full and in it's agitation cycle? By then, I have moved on to other things, sister.)

And I have to admit, I'm kind of a laundry snob, and I'll tell you why this is. Because I want my clothes to come out clean with the least amount of effort for crying out loud. It makes me crazy when a product doesn't do what it is designed to do. So I've become a big fan of the orange bottle. You know the one I'm talking about. It's a name-brand, it's usually a little bit more pricey, but for my money, it just works and I can pretty much depend on it to do it's job.

Now on a side note, since I do have a child with extreme eczema, I have had to be a bit lenient, and sway from my tried-and-true brand. I now use a brand free and clear of all dyes, and my opinion is, it's OK. It doesn't knock my socks off, it doesn't clean as well, but it helps kiddo's skin, and I am way too lazy to wash his things separate from the rest of ours.

All of this to say that I've always wanted to try the Oxiclean detergents. The idea of one product making my whites so much whiter, cleaner, purer is awesome. However my thrifty self could not justify the extra cost, since Oxiclean is used in addition to your regular detergent, not in place of it.


So this week, I was able to use the Oxiclean Max Force Power Packs for this review for the first time! I was pretty excited about it--as excited as one can be about such a mundane task as laundry--and tried the tablets on several loads. (On a side note, the name Max Force Power Packs reminds me of Homer Simpson's super hero name...remember the episode when he was looking at the hair dryer when trying to come up with some moniker and settled on Max Power? *giggle*) The Oxiclean Max Force products are made with four types of stain-fighters to fill your laundry needs.

These laundry pouches come in biodegradable packets that disintegrate in the wash. They release active oxygen that find the stains and work with your favorite detergent to overall benefit your whites and brights. They can be used for all your colors and at any temperature.

I used the power pack in my whites, colors, and a load of towels. Everything came out looking pretty ship-shape. I like the subtle smell that accompanies the fresh loads, and there was no extra filminess or residue left on my clothes.

Also in my sample kit was the Oxiclean Max Force Gel Stick. Here we go with the extra work! The pretreating! As you know, I have 3 boys, and since I haven't been using my orange bottle, sure, some pretreating has been needed. My middle child is an artist and comes home invariably covered from head to toe in art supplies, glitter, markers, glue, not to mention lunch and or snack dribbled down his shirt. It's a miracle he has any clean clothes at all really.

So I definitely had articles of clothing on which to test out the gel stick. It has this kind of funky applicator that helps get the cleaning agent really deep down into the fibers of your clothes, where it sticks to the stain and breaks it apart, supposedly much more effectively than your regular detergent alone. You push down on the tube, and rub the gel into the stain--easy application and no muss, no fuss.

To test, I tried the gel stick on shirts with the following stains: maple syrup, hot cocoa, grease, and cream of chicken soup mingled with mashed potatoes. The gel stick ended up getting all the stains out except for the hot cocoa. I may try this repeatedly over the next week to continue trying to get out the stain. I ended up really liking this product; definitely something I'll continue to look for at the ol' market.

Are you an Oxiclean user and what do you think of it? Comment on this post between 9am on 3/9/10 and 5pm 3/31/10 to enter into a drawing for a $100 Visa Gift Card! Please leave a name and/or email so if you win, I can contact you.

To read other stories, see other pictures, and enter other sweepstakes (each for $100 folks!!) go look at the BlogHer.com special offers page. There are now 7 other chances to win, plus a grand prize $300 sweepstakes!

Check out the BlogHer.com rules page if you have any questions about how this contest will work.

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents, aged 18 and older
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

And don't forget to check out my websites, Life with the Boys and Our P90X Journey.

V8 V-Fusion & $100 giveaway = great blend *closed*

Contest is closed and the winner has been notified and responded. Thanks to all who entered!

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and V8.

Over the years there have been many successful and not so successful mixtures of two food products or flavors combined together to make one yummy one. Certain things just go together. Such as:

• chocolate & peanut butter anything
• broccoli & cheese
• french fries & ranch dressing
• ham & pineapple
• meatloaf & ketchup

Is that last one only me? I apologize. Though in our house, ketchup is its own food group and has been seen accompanying such food items as french toast, mashed potatoes, grilled cheese sandwiches, and of course, fish sticks.

On the other hand, there are flavors that just do not work together. Such as:

• orange juice & mint (don't believe me? go brush your teeth and then try to down a glass of OJ. *shudder*)
• lime gelatin & bacon bits (I've seen it done...it ain't pretty)
• chocolate ice cream & lemonade
• and I know I'm in the minority here, but, potato salad & eggs (yuck Yuck YUCK)
• anything with brussel sprouts--strike that, brussel sprouts are revolting all on their own

However the folks over at V8 have come up with a perfect vegetable and fruit blend in their V8 V-Fusion. We all know that child or spouse (or self) who has a hard time getting his daily allotment of vegetables. V8 V-Fusion combines the vegetables and fruits together giving a full serving of both in one glass.

I found the vegetable taste to be subtle, and secondary to the juice flavor, but it was definitely there. It reminds me of drinking V8's regular vegetable juice (which I love) but only at first, and then the fruit juices take over.

There are several flavor combos to try out including Passionfruit Tangerine, Cranberry Blackberry (my favorite), Strawberry Banana, Pomegranate Blueberry, and others. And for those who are watching their sugar intake, there are also several Light varieties.

My kids and hubby all really liked the juice--hubby said he liked knowing that it was healthy while still being tasty, and I like that the kids can get a full serving of veggies without even knowing it!

Want to try it? Go here to get a coupon for $1 off.

And I wish I'd seen this sooner--a site dedicated to recipes you can try using your V8 original or V8 V-Fusion! From chili to berry dip to smoothies recipes.

Please check out reviews from other BlogHer reviewers and enter their giveaways on the BlogHer.com special offers page.

To enter this contest for $100 Visa gift card, leave me a comment below and tell me what your favorite V8 V-Fusion variety is, or if you haven't tried it, which one you are most excited to try. Or you may leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below. The contest will begin 1/12/10 and will end 2/09/10. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct.

Rules:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• This giveaway is open to US-Residents aged 18 and older
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• Please see the official rules here: official rules.
  

Please visit my blog at Life with the Boys.

Hershey's $100 giveaway winner!

My winner was #40, Melinda.

Congrats!

spreading the holiday calories—uhh, I mean--cheer (now closed)

(this contest is now closed)

This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Hershey's

So, my mom is a baker. A fantastic baker. Every holiday there were always mounds and mounds of treats of all varieties. Christmas was always amazing with red & green candy cookies, coconut christmas tree cookies, wreath sugar cookies, fudge, wassail, and more. For each holiday during the school year, she’d make literally dozens and dozens of holiday-shaped sugar cookies that we would share with our classes in school. I could go on and on but I just gained 4 pounds thinking about her yummy treats.

All this to say that, baking is in my blood. My mom practically lived in the kitchen when we were growing up—partly due to the fact that we didn’t have a dishwasher—but mostly due to the fact that she cooked and baked and gave things away as charitable acts of service. Someone’s sick next door? Let’s take them over a casserole. So and so had a baby? Let’s take them some chocolate cake. Your friend had a bad day? Go take her these cookies.

I have to admit I’ve taken after her just a wee bit when it comes to giving away food. Since I too love to bake, but unfortunately am an eternal dieter, I often bake dozens of cookies just for fun, only to give them away to neighbors and friends so I don’t have to be tempted by them. I have a friend who is going thru a rough pregnancy and I’ve volunteered to take them a meal every single week if to help out just a little bit. I remember when an old friend had a horrific miscarriage—I showed up with some cinnamon rolls and said, “I don’t know what you’re going through, and I don’t know how I can help, but I can bake, so please, eat.”

One of my favorite ways to share treats, like many of you, is to make goodie plates during the holidays. Yes, Christmas—there, I said it. =) No political correctness on my blog! And like many of my neighbors, I like to come up with some special recipes, some tried and true, and some brand new what-do-you-think-of-these treats.

For this review I was given the opportunity to test out several of Hershey’s Kiss varieties. I baked and baked one Saturday afternoon, standing for approximately 4.5 hours (and yikes did my back hurt the next day!), taunting myself because I was on a liquid cleanse that week and couldn’t taste test what looked like master succulent creations. I had fun trying new things and make a humongous mess of my kitchen.

And forgive me, but I had my kids and hubby snap pictures of my journey along the way. I leave it to you to guess which shots were snapped by my hubby of eleven years. :)

I tried the recipes listed here on Hershey’s Kisses baking website. I made the Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies, the Triple Chocolate Cookies, and the Peanut Butter Blossoms. I also made the Kisses Cocoa Cookies but those didn’t turn out right. (I now know precisely what happens when you accidentally add twice the amount of required butter to a cookie recipe.)

I used the Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Kisses for all these cookies—minus the ones that failed, I used the Hersheys Meltaway Kisses (which are oh-so-yummy)—and then shared them with friends, neighbors, and my kids’ friends. I’m still finding Hershey’s Kiss wrappers all over my house!

Anyway, it was interesting to see how people responded to the three different kinds. The Chocolate Thumbprints have a lot going on—chocolate cookie covered in peanuts and then a dollop of white icing and the Hershey’s Kiss on top. It gives a nice blend of sweet and salty. These were a favorite of some.

The Triple Chocolate variety consists of a chocolate cookie with chocolate chips inside and then a Hershey’s Kiss on top. Many said this cookie tasted like a brownie and it was the overall favorite. [It will in fact be the big Go To Cookie for the neighbors for Christmas this year]

My favorite was the Peanut Butter Blossoms as I am a huge sucker for anything peanut butter. The cool thing about these is they were made with sweetened condensed milk, which I do not bake with often. I love how soft the milk made this recipe. Several said there wasn’t enough peanut butter for these to be true peanut butter cookies—but the softness and consistency easily made these my favorite.

Ummm…yeah….there’s one of my hubby’s shots.

What’s your Go To Cookie for the holidays?

To enter the drawing for $100 Visa gift card from Hershey’s and BlogHer, comment or you may leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below. The contest will begin 12/4/09 9:00am and go until 12/31/09 11:59pm. It makes is much easier for me to contact winners if they include their email address in their entry. Please make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct.

Rules:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
• You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
• This giveaway is open to US residents 18 and older.
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
• You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• Please see the official rules here.

You have 8 chances to win! Enter them all here at the BlogHer.com special offers page.

Check out many more recipes on the Hershey's Holiday website.

Please check out my website Life with the Boys.