$100 gift card contest -- Choc-o-Lantern Chocolate Frosted Chocolate Fudge flavored Pop-Tarts *contest closed*

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

We always enjoy the opportunity to get creative with Pop-Tarts. Have you been shopping for these little delicacies lately? There are seriously so many flavors. I swear, just a few years ago, you could get strawberry, cherry, brown cinnamon sugar, and maybe blueberry, but since then, wow! All kinds of fun fruits and desserty flavors, chocolate and peanut butter and cookies and cream... (Is it still considered a breakfast food? I submit that yes, yes it is!)

We were able to have some fun with the new Choc-o-Lantern Chocolate Frosted Chocolate Fudge flavored Pop-Tarts. These are chocolate pastries with fudgy insides, frosted orange with small sprinkles of Halloween shapes on top. How fun is that?

We decided to make our very own pumpkin patch. Here are some pictures from our afternoon in the kitchen.

First, we cut out our Pop-Tarts into pumpkin shapes. We used a pumpkin-shaped cookie cutter as a guide. Cameron very carefully cut out and sculpted the shape of the pumpkin, trimming when needed.

Then we made some chocolate frosting and piped it onto the pumpkins, making fun jack-o-lantern faces.

Then we made a home-made moist chocolate cake, frosted it, and put the jack-o-lanterns on top to make our pumpkin patch.

I'm giving away a $100 Visa gift card from Blogger! From the dates of Oct 18, 2010 to Oct 31, 2010 enter by commenting on this post and tell me: what is your favorite Pop-Tarts flavor? While you're at it, I'd love if you'd share your favorite unorthodox use of Pop-Tarts. Do you freeze them? Use them as pie crust? Make ice cream sandwiches out of them or dip them in chocolate? I'm always amazed at the recipes made out of these very versatile snacks.

Enter 9 times by visiting the other reviews on the BlogHer.com exclusive offers page. Official rules can be seen here.

Please visit my main blog and say hello over on Life with the Boys.

$150 contest - -making 7:30-8:30pm the magic hour and not the witching hour **contest closed**

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and the makers of One A Day Multivitamins.

In the past, bedtime for three young boys has been something of a disaster. It went a little bit like this:

"Ok, it's a commercial, go brush your teeth!"

2 out of 3 kids go running off.

"Get your clothes out for tomorrow!"

1 might follow this one.

"Go potty one last time!"

("but Mom, I haven't finished brushing my teeth yet")

"Who brushed their teeth? You left the toothpaste out!"

("I haven't done mine yet")

"Where is your backpack?"

("Mom, I forgot I was supposed to have you fill this out and send in $5")

(crash)

"What was that?"

("I dropped all the cups when I went to get a drink of water.")

"Did you guys take showers tonight?"

("Can't I do it in the morning?")

"Whose toothbrush is still dry?"

(silence)

"Whose clothes are all over the floor?"

(silence)

"Why are you in the backyard???!"

"Shoot, the show's back on, let's finish at the next commercial..."

And so on and so on.

The first thing I learned these past few months, is for heavens sake, to shut the TV off. With kiddos' bed times at 8 and 8:30, there's just no way to get invested in a show and still get everything done that needs doing.

As soon as school got back into session in August, and bedtimes became more stringent, we started a new schedule that works really well.

We start at 7:30. The TV goes OFF. While child #1 takes his shower, I work with the younger two on brushing teeth, bathroom visits, last drinks of water, and then with remaining time, we read fun books out loud. This is also the time for getting clothes ready for the next day and putting backpacks in place (with snack if I remember).

The longer they take, the lesser time for fun reading. It's really up to them how they want to use their time. Once they're done, the three of us sit and read, sometimes for 5 minutes, sometimes for 20, but up until about 7:50.

With the younger two prepped and the oldest out of the shower, we all gather around for some scripture study and family prayer. This is a staple. If nothing else, we do this every night. Sometimes we read 10 verses, sometimes it's a chapter--whatever we're needing at the time, but we won't skip. We take turns each day saying the family prayer. We kiss, we hug, we say personal prayers, and kids #2 and #3 are done for the night. No excuses, stay in bed, 8:00 curfew.

Then Child #1 gets some reading time. Normally I'd let him read silently in his room, but he really likes reading together with Mom, and he's happened to pick a rather lengthy book at present that I prefer to edit slightly, so I'm reading out loud to him too. At 8:30, he too gets kissed and sent off to bed.

After 8:30, I can look around my house and see that backpacks are ready, kids are in bed with clothes ready for the next day, and I take a few minutes to otherwise clean up. I get the dishwasher started, maybe fold a load of laundry, and the Mommy day is complete.

In the past, that hour of bedtime prep has been done with a lot of yelling, reminding, scolding, whining, and otherwise going-to-bed-angry--from me and the kids. Having this routine and evening schedule, the kids know what is expected of them and things run smoothly. We stick as close to the routine as possible, and it's made going back to school time much smoother and effortless. When the kids wake in the morning, clothes and backpacks are ready and there's not too much to stress about, which makes the 6:30-7:30 am hour much nicer as well.

We all have more or less stressful times in our day, whether it be the dinner-prep hour or the immediate hour after school gets out, there are times when everything is happening at once, and all of a sudden the living room can look like the remains from a fallout shelter. We are creatures of habit, and as a rule, generally like knowing what to expect each day, know what is expected of us, and so on.

How do you plan your days? Some people use planner books or agendas, have big wall calendars or to-do lists. I've seen families use giant white boards to detail the hours of the day and what is expected when. One such tool that can help you keep organized and on track, especially during this busy back-to-school season, is the My Tree Tool from the makers of One A Day Multivitamins. The site helps you make goals and outline when you're going to accomplish them, be it daily, weekly, etc.

I used this to prioritize 3 things at the start of this Fall: Spirituality, Health, and Relationships. I can schedule and track how often we read our scriptures together, how many times a week we want to exercise together as a family outside, and set a plan to read to my kids every night. The tool offers some really insightful suggestions and ideas to implement your plans and goals. It may be just the thing you need to get life on track this season.

What do you use to keep your days and weeks on track? Answer in the comments for a chance at a $150 Visa gift card! Contest runs 9/21/10 through 10/21/10 and winner will be randomly chosen and contacted by email, so make sure you leave a valid way to contact you.

There are 5 chances to win plus a chance at a bonus $100 by checking out the Exclusive Offers page. :) Read official rules for more info.

Don't forget to check out my 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.

hey...those are mine! *contest closed*

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and Ritz.

So this summer is my first summer NOT doing home daycare or working in some form or another since...umm...since I was 16 maybe? Being that I have 3 active boys and I am in fact a student myself, the school year was busy and hectic and went a mile a minute. So I was so looking forward to this summer of just me and my boys. (and their dad) PS: I loved my daycare kids, but there's something about just having my very own kiddos and being on our very own schedule!

Lets start by saying I'm in the car easily 4-5 times a day. I take them to the weekly summer movies at the local theatre, I'm at the library 3+ days a week dropping off and picking up movies and books, I schlep 'em out to the water park 2+ days a week, I drive them to and from cubscout meetings, and sit on the sidelines during basketball. I'm at the grocery store, the bank, the gas station, etc etc etc! We are on the run constantly! When I do have a minute or two free, my favorite thing to do is take a breath, grab a snack, and read a book.

Running around town or hiding in my corner hanging out with the latest author, snacks on the go are a must. Ritz Crackerfuls filled crackers are portable and so easy to grab in a pinch. The 6 grams of whole grain in each serving make this a filling and healthier alternative to all the sugar snacks that seem to sneak their way into my cupboards.

These snacks get snuck OUT of my cupboards just as quickly!

To enter the $100 Visa gift card giveaway, tell me what you do when you have a few moments all to yourself. Do you hop online? Take a nap? Work on a hobby? Watch TV? Knit? Play the trombone? Garden? Tell me in the comments.

The contest runs July 9th-July 31st and there are sixteen other chances to win! Please check out the other bloggers' pages and contests here. Official rules can be read here. Read about Ritz Crackerfuls, and save $1.00 on Ritz Crackerfuls filled crackers by clicking here for your coupon.

Banana & Peanut Butter S'more-Wiches *contest closed*

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

We were asked to come up with our own recipe using Pop-Tarts. I took some of my favorite flavors and decided to make S'more-Wiches out of them.


We took the S'mores variety of Pop-Tarts and layed them upside down.



We then added creamy peanut butter on top.



Then cut into 6 pieces each.



We sliced half a banana and put the slices on top of 6 squares of the peanut butter.



Then topped with the other Pop-Tarts.



I gave these to the kids for breakfast and was surprised that we all loved them! Even me. :) I'm not a big fan of banana being added to anything, but these were surprisingly delicious and creamy. We had not cooked the Pop-Tarts first, so the pastry was nice and soft, just how I like it. (Next time I make it, I'll try cooking them first. I think the warmness of the S'mores Pop-Tarts combined with the gooey-ness of the peanut butter is likely to be a winning combination!)

I think the dominant flavor was the peanut butter, which again, I really liked. But if you aren't as PB-crazy as I am, you could always cut the peanut butter way back or only put it on one side of the 'wich.

Try them! They're tasty!

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.

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.