The Redneck Review

Filtrete Yourself to Better Water

2010-11-03T22:51:00.002-05:00

We have rural water, which I think is by far better than city water, but still there are times I think it's got a whang. Yes, whang is a real word. Just ask anyone in Oklahoma. I have recently started drinking more water - a LOT more water. I feel better and lost five pounds within the first two weeks. Of course, when you're pushing 128 ounces of water through yourself every day it would only make sense you'd flush out something. But I was having a hard time making myself drink with that whang.

When water filtration pitchers came out several years ago and were all the rage, of course we got one. And while the water tasted good it took sooooo long for the water to trickle through the filter. Granted, I don't live a jetset lifestyle or anything, but I like convenience and instant gratification is always so.... gratifying. Eventually we sold the pitcher in a garage sale and have just tolerated the occasional whang in the water.

When Mom Central offered the opportunity to try Filtrete's Water Pitcher with a "fast flow filter" I was curious. I thought Filtrete just made furnace filters. I know, I know. I live a sheltered life. When UPS delivered the box I couldn't get to the sink quick enough. I washed it and called the family in to watch. "Fast flow" is the absolute truth! I couldn't believe how instantly the water went into the pitcher. We all had cups of tap water, followed by the filtered water. It tastes like bottled water - no aftertaste at all. And it makes my sweet tea tastes just like Sonic's. I mean, I make really good sweet tea (no joke, ask anyone who's had it - I'm a sweet tea guru!) but it's even better now with my Filtrete pitcher.

Filtrete's pitcher has a 12-cup capacity, so not only does it filter five times faster than other pitchers, it holds more as well. The sleek design is easy to handle and pour and fits in the fridge without taking up too much space. Ours sits on the counter most of the time, though. When you drink 128 ounces of water every day, it kind of needs to be convenient. I definitely utilitize my pitcher to it's fullest. Each of the Filtrete fast flow filters filter up to 100 gallons before needing to be changed and they figure it will take about three months for that to happen. I'm pretty sure mine will need to be changed sooner than that, but thanks to the handy filter change indicator right on the filter I'll know when it's time.

Check out the Filtrete website and check out all of their products. There are also promotions, money-saving offers you can take advantage of while you're there.

I highly recommend giving this pitcher a try - I also recommend drinking more water. :-) Seriously. Filtrete yourself.

Big thanks to Mom Central for the opportunity to try this great product!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Filtrete and received the water pitcher to facilitate my candid review.”

Like, Don't Fret the Sweat

2010-10-05T13:55:00.000-05:00

As I've mentioned before I have three kids, so we are no strangers to stinky pits around our house.

Yes, I'm talking about armpits. Stinky, smelly, odiferous armpits. Particularly those of my children.

Abby was very young when we realized there was a need for deodorant intervention. In fact it was just before she went into 1st grade. She was sitting on my sister's lap during a Vacation Bible School program and as she raised her hands to do the hand motions for a song she nearly knocked my sister out - not with her gangly elbows, but with the peeled onion smell emitting from her pit region. Poor thing. When we got home that night I handed her a sample stick of deodorant I had in the closet and the next morning called her doctor. He assured me she was fine and that because she was a very physically active kid it was not an issue that she was a bit stinky.

Trust me when I say I was not blindsided by the younger two kids - we did pit checks from 1st grade on. Now the oldest is 14 and quite the deodorant pro. The other two are tweens - stinky, stinky tweens. Heaven help us all.

Because this is pretty much a universal issue parents and kids face, Unilever has designed a website regarding this sensitive subject called DontFretTheSweat.com . There are informative articles from "perspiration pros", ways we parents can handle the conversation in a way so as not to scar our children for life and a product guide. There are also coupons! Who can resist a coupon? I can't - especially since I have three kids which equals out to six smelly pits.

Sam has been trying Degree Men and it's working better than anything we've tried so far. (And can I just say that boy pits are far more heinous potent than girl pits?) Kady has been trying out Degree Girl "Friends Forever". Out of the three sticks of deodorant adorning her dresser she likes it best. The packaging has all kinds of tween and teen jibberish on it, but I think "OMG" is the most appropriate because that's what I've uttered when I've gotten a whiff of that child after a hot day in Oklahoma.

Check out the site, grab a coupon or two and seriously, Mom, like...don't fret the sweat. Like, OMG.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Unilever and received the items necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Gatorade - Beat the Heat

2010-08-26T21:34:00.000-05:00

Here in Oklahoma we have seen a few days reprieve from triple digit temps. This has been one of the hottest summers I can remember in a long time and trust me, I've experienced my fair share of "Oklahot" summers. When the temperatures soar it's not always ideal to stay indoors under that blessed AC and that's where Gatorade comes in. Gatorade's "Beat the Heat" campaign works to educates athletes, parents and coaches about heat-related illness and the importance of proper hydration.

As a mom it's my job to make sure my crew stays hydrated. Water is a spectacular hydrator and we definitely need it, but when you're losing as much fluid as recent temps have caused you need more. Gatorade has the carbohydrates and electrolytes that water does not. My kids are basketball players and while they sweat their fair share on the court, it's a winter sport and rehydrating is easier. Football players play in the brutal heat of summer early on in the season. By drinking only water while practicing and playing the brain may turn off the perception of thirst before the body’s overall fluid needs are met and you may not fully rehydrate. The electrolytes in Gatorade help maintain the stimulus to drink so athletes drink enough to replenish and refuel.

Younger athletes may be at a higher risk for heat-related illness, so while your little quarterback is out sweating on the field be on the lookout for symptoms: nausea, headache, weakness, lack of concentration (that doesn't count playing in the end zone and picking dandelions for those first-year players!), flushed skin, lightheadness, loss of coordination and fatigue.

It's important to hydrate before, during and after physical activity. Thank goodness for Gatorade's full line of drinks made for all phases of activity. Gatorade, the NFL and Moms all over have taken our kids' hydration and safety to heart. And you can help, too. You can download a free Gatorade Heat Safety Kit at the NFL Training Camp website. For every unique download Gatorade will donate $1 to “Beat the Heat” charities up to $20,000. The Gatorade Heat Safety Kit includes educational resources from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, as well as an explanation about the “4 Downs” of Heat Safety – Prevent, Prepare, Proper Hydration, Plan – which athletes, parents and coaches should consider before engaging in practice or other strenuous physical activity in hot weather.

So when you send your little athlete onto the field - whether she's a cheerleader or he's a running back - make sure you're armed with information from Gatorade's "Beat the Heat" campaign and make sure they're armed with Gatorade.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Gatorade’s “Beat the Heat” campaign and received Gatorade samples to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Winner!!

2010-08-13T15:27:00.000-05:00

Okay, because the internet was all wonky last night due to the Perseid metor shower or possibly a light southeast breeze or maybe a spider web on the receiver, I wasn't able to post the winner of the Chasing Lilacs giveaway.

*drum roll*

And the winner is..........

Okie Rednecks!!!!

Please email me at theredneckdiva@gmail.com and send me your contact info so I can get your books to you!

Thanks to all of you who entered!

Chasing Lilacs - A Review and a Giveaway

2010-07-27T14:52:00.001-05:00

**UPDATE BELOW**

I read the book Chasing Lilacs last week in a frenzy of reading, something I rarely get to do anymore. The last two books I checked out at the library were sent back, one partially read, the other not even cracked open. Even though it's summer, I just don't seem to have time to read, but I'm so glad I took the time to slow down and enjoy this one. My sweet friend, Jeane Wynn, was so excited to share it with me and the excitement rubbed off on me as well!

Chasing Lilacs is the first book by Carla Stewart and she started out with a bang. I cannot wait to see what else she shares with us in the future! I was drawn into the story from the very beginning and was sad to see it end.

Sammie Tucker is nearly 13 and the year is 1958, a time when depression isn't spoken of other than in hushed tones, the Edsel is the height of automotive fashion and life in a small town isn't always easy. She's caught in that sweet, mystical age between being a girl and becoming a woman when her life is turned upside down by her mother's suicide attempt. But when her mama comes home from the hospital she is vigilant and determined that things stay normal and that Mama gets better. As the summer progresses life doesn't get easier and Sammie wonders if her mama ever loved her at all.

Not only is the main story engaging and enveloping, there are other subplots throughout the book that draw you in as well. From Sammie's best friend Tuwana's quest to become a cheerleader, Mrs. Johnson's new furniture and Mr. Johnson's new Edsel to the mysterious, somewhat dangerous, Cly who moved to Sammie's hometown from California, Goldie's birds and Sammie's Juicy Fruit-smacking Aunt Vadine there is no shortage of mystery, drama, humor and even sadness among the citizens of Graham Camp.

I found myself laughing and crying throughout the book. While I grew up a few years past the late 1950's, I still remember being nearly 13 and how friendships, relationships with family, school and even your own faith can be tumultuous and unpredictable. Sammie is a girl much like most of us who have at some point in our life been on the verge of putting away our dolls and putting on lip gloss. Every character in the book has a story and they all come together in such a way the whole thing will stay on your mind even after you read the last page.

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And here's the best part of this whole entire blog post - I have a copy of the book to give away signed by Carla Stewart herself! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post to earn an entry. If you mention the giveaway on your own blog, tweet about it or post about it on Facebook you earn extra entries (You can post as often as you like, but only one entry is entered per day). Just send the links to any posts, updates or tweets to theredneckdiva@gmail.com and I'll take care of the rest. The drawing will be held on August 1st and the winner will be announced that evening.

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**UPDATE** Okay, it's very apparent to those of you who have entered the giveaway (all three of you, God bless you) that I haven't drawn yet. I'm going to blame illness, stress, the end-of-summer frenzy when I realized "OH MY GOSH THE SUMMER IS OVER AND I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED NOTHING IN MY HOUSE I WANTED TO".... among other things. So the drawing is now going to be on Thursday, August 12th and to make up for the delay I am adding another book to the giveaway - Love Finds You in Charm, Ohio by Annalisa Daughety. And those of you who have entered already, you're getting TWO extra entries as thanks for being patient. Thank you!

YourSphere and Blogging

2010-07-12T19:01:00.000-05:00

My kids are no stranger to the world of blogging. God love 'em, their entire lives are blogged on a semi-regular basis. They know few things are sacred when it comes to Momma and her blog.

But as a mom I want to teach my children the responsible way to blog and share things on the internet. They are children, under my care and my responsibility. If I choose to overshare on the internet, well, I'm an adult and a redneck and you know how we rednecks love firearms. Just sayin'. But my kids are innocents in need of my direction and supervision. They need to understand that what they say is permanent and can have long-lasting consequences. I'd like to teach my kids to become responsible bloggers.

What better way to introduce them to the world of blogging on their own but through a blog on Yoursphere? My 8 year old took to it like a duck to water. She spent the better part of an afternoon creating a blog post about our very reproductively superior cat, aptly named Michelle Duggar. She was so proud of her work and I edited for her many, many, can I say many times? She loved the creativity involved in telling the story and has forced many a family member to read her blog.

My 11 year old wasn't as impressed with the blogging process. He is kind of anti-grammar and punctuation anyway - probably because he's 11 and a boy. I'll continue to gently suggest he give it a whirl. Who knows, he may be a daddy blogger someday. Or he may be like his daddy and just shake his head in wonder at his wife who blogs. One never knows.

I have been so impressed with the Yoursphere test drive that Mom Central made available. Without it I probably never would have tried it or let my kids try it. I think internet safety for our kids is of the utmost importance and Yoursphere comes as close to safe as I think you can get. We, as parents, still must be vigilant and very much a part of our children's online presences and activities. My kids have enjoyed becoming part of an online community where they have a voice and can have some fun, too!

"I wrote this review while participating in the Yoursphere Test Drive program by Mom Central on behalf of Yoursphere. I received a free lifetime Gold membership on Yoursphere.com, Yoursphere t-shirts, and a $50 American Express gift card to facilitate my review."

Yoursphere

2010-06-15T13:19:00.001-05:00

My two youngest kids are still having a blast with the Yoursphere site and we're two months into using it. I think what they like the most is that they feel like "big kids", like their big sister who uses Facebook.

When I told Kady about this week's "homework" which involved decorating her condo and getting a job at the coffee shop in Our World (kind of like YoVille to you Facebook game-players) she waved me away and said, "Done. Like, weeks ago." Well, what was I thinking? Of course she did. :-)

Both kids have created their own spheres and are actively participating in other spheres, some created by Yoursphere and others created by other kids. We'll be out somewhere and they'll see something random or we'll have a conversation about something and invariably at some point one or both will either say, "I wonder if there's a sphere for that," or "I'm making a sphere for that!" Needless to say, they are both really enjoying the feeling of independence they get from creating something of their own to share with other kids their ages.

If you have a kiddo between nine and 12 I encourage you to check out Yoursphere for yourself and then sign up your kids!

SHOCKing!

2010-06-13T22:10:00.000-05:00

Right before we went on vacation Mr. Hoover, the Hoovlets and I loaded up the van and headed for Tulsa to see Oklahoma's very own WNBA team, the Tulsa Shock play against the Indiana Fever.

For one thing, let me just say this: We are country folk. We (meaning my husband) is very intimidated by buildings taller than our barn. And traffic? Well, the man simply refuses to drive in Tulsa. I, however, have a Garmin GPS which makes me invincible. (Just go with it.) So all that being said, the BOK was incredibly easy to find and parking was great. For us bumpkins, this was already major points in the right direction.

The tickets were waiting for us at the Will Call window, along with autograph session passes. We were greeted by very friendly staff who helped us find our way in and when we stood there looking for our section a helpful fella came over to see if we needed help. Our seats were great and considering we'd never attended any event at the BOK we were very impressed with the stadium itself.

As far as the game is concerned we were very entertained and very impressed with the atmosphere, the talent, the entertainment, the players and well, pretty much everything.

We especially liked Volt the Fox.

Those ladies are amazing athletes (and did you know that a lot of WNBA players are moms? Yeah, me either!) and definitely know their game. In fact, mere minutes into the game our budding basketball diva, Kady, never taking her eyes off the game, asked, "Can I play for the Shock when I grow up?"

Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay for the autograph session after the game because Kady started in with an earache and sore throat just before halftime and spent from that point on lying in my lap and crying.

Pitiful, huh?

We'll definitely go back before the season ends and guess what? You can go, too! Because One2One Network has bestowed upon me a code to get you discount tickets when you take your own family. I know, it really is awesome. Go here to order tickets and enter the code WNBABLOG at checkout and voila! Discount! It's anywhere from 20%-40% per ticket depending on the price range:

$10 tickets will be discounted to $8.

$19 tickets will be discounted to $12.

$25 tickets will be discounted to $15.

$55 tickets will be discounted to $30.

$60 tickets will be discounted to $35.

Neat, huh?

Big thanks to One2One Network for the tickets, autograph passes and the opportunity to experience the Tulsa Shock!

Shrek Forever After

2010-06-01T20:37:00.000-05:00

Everyone loves Shrek. Okay, I really love Shrek. And Fiona, she's the ogre all girls secretly long to be. No? Just me?

We have had the Shrek Forever After game by Activision for Wii for a couple of weeks now and have really enjoyed learning the finer points of the game. I mean, how often do you get to assume the role of ogres, a righteously uhm....tough (?) kitty and a mouthy donkey then kick some serious rear in your own living room? Kady and Sam have played it more than the rest of us, but I keep telling them if they'd do some of their own laundry I could play more, too. They aren't buying it.

The drop-in/drop-out feature, however, allows me to holler at them for chores and it doesn't affect the gameplay of whoever they're playing with. They just drop out, take out the trash or empty the dishwasher, then jump right back in when they're done. Kady is 8 and has no trouble at all playing the games and figuring ou the puzzles. Sam just really likes it when Shrek burps. We can't wait to get two more controllers so we can take advantage of the four-player ability, too.

We're enjoying the swamp out of the Shrek Forever After video game. If you're looking for fun for the whole family, all at once or taking turns (a skill my children do not possess) it's the game for you and your crew of ogres!

Thanks to Mom Central for the opportunity!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Activision and received the items necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Spherical, Dude

2010-05-27T14:19:00.001-05:00

Kady and Sam are in their third week on Yoursphere and are still loving it like crazy.

Kady was the first out of the two to create her own Sphere and hers is about Timbaland and Timberlake and how they are full of teh awesome. (I wholeheartedly agree, by the way.) It took a little while for someone to join her sphere, but when they did she was ecstatic! Sam's is about Bigfoot and his immediately drew a pretty good following. Why, I'm not sure, but it must be a redneck thing. Maybe? Hmh. While Kady is always checking out fashion and music spheres, Sam is more into games and animals. They both come to me with random bits of information from the "Did You Know?" box on their homepage, like "Did you know your nose makes about a cup of snot each day?" Yeah. Information only kids can truly love. The other day Kady even "warned" me about putting too much information on the internet, as advised by her homepage.

They both have played some in OurWorld, a simulation game on Yoursphere. Sam has been on it more than Kady because he's a little dude with a serious video game need. They both have avatars they customized themselves and are earning coins and completing challenges. There's an arcade in the game where they can go play all kinds of games.

I'm still impressed with the site and the kids are able to navigate it easily and by themselves. I log in every day and check on what they've been up to and in addition to checking on them online, I talk to them about what they've done, what games they've played, etc.

If you have an older elementary child or a tween who wants to play online I recommend Yoursphere. When you sign then up, if you'd use my unique referral code I'd appreciate it: YSMC-0073.

My kids recommend Yoursphere, too. Sam told me to write that. He says it rocks. Take his word for it. He's 11 - he knows everything.

I wrote this review while participating in the Yoursphere Test Drive program by Mom Central on behalf of Yoursphere. I received a free lifetime Gold membership on Yoursphere.com, Yoursphere t-shirts, and a $50 American Express gift card to facilitate my review.

Brusha Brusha Brusha

2010-05-20T17:58:00.000-05:00

If I had a nickel for every time I asked the question, "Did you brush your teeth?" I would be a rich woman indeed. If I had a nickel for every time I said, "Go brush your teeth again because I'm not even sure your toothbrush touched your nasty teeth," I would make Donald Trump look like a poor hobo. I will never understand why toothbrushing is such a horrendous task to children. I personally like not having my teeth feel like they're wearing sweaters.

My youngest daughter is 8 and has been trying out the Sonicare for Kids toothbrush for a few weeks now. I am so impressed with how clean her teeth are getting AND how I don't have to remind her (and remind her and remind her and remind her some more) to brush her teeth. Not once since she started using it have I had to have her re-brush.

The features that impressed me the most is the timer and the step-up levels. It's so hard to get a kid to brush for two full minutes, but with the Sonicare for Kids brush she has no problem at all waiting for the little music note telling her to switch sections of her mouth and keep on brushing. Before she knows it, two minutes are up and her teeth are sparkling! The first time she turned the power on she was a little leary of the vibrations, but the toothbrush has a step-up feature that starts out with less vibration and gradually over the first 14 full brushing cycles. There's also a lower, less intense level for ages 4 and under. The toothbrush is easy for her to hold and has bright colored changeable faceplates to mix things up a little.

I am so impressed with the Sonicare for Kids toothbrush we'll be purchasing one soon for our 11 year old who has braces. He has a hard time getting things sparkly amidst all the metal in his mouth right now - I can only be sure that the Sonicare for Kids will help him, too, be squeaky clean and his teeth will be free of sweaters. :-)

Thanks, Mom Central for the opportunity to try this amazing product!

"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Sonicare and received a free Sonicare For Kids toothbrush to facilitate my review.”

I'm a Yoursphere Test Driving Mom!

2010-05-11T15:07:00.000-05:00

I am an avid user of social media and networking sites. I am also 37. Let's be real: Facebook is not for kids. If you have a kid on Facebook I certainly don't mean to offend you, I just know for a fact that there are some creepy, creepy dudes out there just trolling around looking for kids. I am not dissin' social media and networking outlets, I'm just saying let's leave the little kids off of them. Abby is 13 and after many lectures and strict guidelines we let her have a Facebook page, but it is private to non-friends, she knows the rules and what will happen if she breaks them (beheading) (just kidding) and I also have her password and check her page and actvity often.

But I also have two younger kids who are very jealous of big sister's Facebook page and there is no way I am letting them on there just yet. I am my children's biggest advocate and if I don't step in to protect them, montor their online activities and make sure they're safe then who will? They're kids. Little, innocent kids who still have a hard time discerning good intentions vs. bad ones and who to trust online. So when MomCentral sent out the call for moms to test drive Yoursphere, the social networking site for kids, I was more than excited. It's "social media on training wheels" and parents must sign their kids up and verify their identity.

And now I am more than proud to announce that I am a Yoursphere Test Drive Mom!

My two youngest have signed on and so have I. I have access to their accounts, their "spheres" and activities and I monitor their time on the site. Oh the power! And the huge sigh of relief. So far they are loving it and now in addition to Abby asking if she can check her Facebook I have the two youngest asking, "Mom? Can I check my Yoursphere?" I'm going to have to set up a schedule.....or buy more computers. Nah, I'll just set up a schedule.

Check out Yoursphere and keep checking back here to see how my kids and I are doing with the test drive! If you decide to sign your child(ren) up, email me (theredneckdiva [at] gmail) and I will share a unique code to use that will help me earn chances for a $1000 American Express gift card!

Once again I have to give a big thanks to MomCentral for seeking out the sites and products relevant to moms and their families and giving us this opportunity!

Kees me, you fool - I have healthy lips

2010-02-03T09:30:00.002-06:00

I am addicted to chapstick. I freely admit this and am not ashamed. I do not like the feel of chapped lips and refuse to live my life with itchy, dry ones. I have been called a chapstick snob by more than one person and this title does not bother me. I once paid $9 for a tube of chapstick and no, I'm not kidding. That is how serious I am about my kisser. I have tubes, pots, containers and sticks everywhere - and so do my kids because I give them all the products that disappoint me. I know. I'm awful.

I have been on a quest to find the perfect chapstick for years. What I run into more often than not is a waxy stick that doesn't make my lips feel any better than if I'd rubbed a candle all over them. Occasionally I find one that goes to the other extreme and it feels like I've dipped my lips in vegetable oil.

Neither is ideal. Neither helps the overall long-term appearance and feel of my lips.

I saw a commercial a few weeks ago for Neosporin Lip Health and when it said it was clinically proven to produce healthier lips in three days I was more than intrigued. If it hadn't been for the horrible weather and my muddy, sloshy, icy road I'd have driven to town immediately. The very next day MomCentral sent out the call for people to try the Daily Hydration Therapy and Overnight Renewal Therapy I felt that it was the universe telling me I needed this product.

Y'all know how I do that happy mailbox dance when packages arrive from MomCentral, well, I was even more excited to bust open this package and as fast as I could get the plastic off the tube of Daily Hydration Therapy I had it on my lips. Oh happy day. Oh happy, happy day. I sent a tweet less than 24 hours into the three-day challenge extolling the virtues of this amazing product. There is no taste, no greasy feel, nothing more than bliss. Yes, I just said bliss. And I meant it. It also has SPF 20 and if you've ever had sunburned lips you know how valuable SPF is in a lip product. I am in love with it. Like, deep, meaningful relationship in love with it. The other night we headed to town in a snow storm and I forgot my Daily Hydration Therapy on the dining room table. I seriously made my husband turn around a mile from the house so I could go back and get it.

The Overnight Renewal Therapy is absolutely amazing. I always put chapstick on my lips before bed, so I was very excited about an overnight product that used the word "renewal" in its name. At my age, renewal is a very good thing. Nearly mandatory. The little container is barely over 1/4 ounce and I don't possibly see how you could ever run out. At under $5.50, it's a total bargain. I mean, $5.50 and it lasts for eternity? Yeah. It takes such a small amount to do the trick! Oh alright, eternity might be stretching it, but I still bet it takes a long time to use it all.

When Kady got home from school the other day I noticed she had licked her lips to the point it looked like she had a burn under her lower lip. Even though it wasn't technically "overnight" then I put some of the Overnight Renewal Therapy on her and by her actual bedtime the severely chapped spot was gone.

When they say three-days to results they mean it. I saw results in less than 24 hours with the Daily Hydration Therapy and the Overnight Renewal Therapy just sealed the deal. You don't have to reapply constantly like with traditional chapsticks and lip balms, which is a HUGE plus for me.

I don't think I will ever buy another lip product besides Neosporin Lip Health.

Really.

"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Neosporin and received a sample of the Lip Health Overnight Renewal Therapy and the Lip Health Daily Hydration Therapy to facilitate my review and a $20 thank-you gift certificate."

Green Laundry is Actually a Good Thing

2009-12-11T13:27:00.001-06:00

My youngest daughter has eczema. This summer was the worst it has ever been. She was digging and scratching to the point I was worried about staph infections. We tried modifying her diet to no avail, changed her bath soap and shampoo and it didn't help either. I switched to fragrance-free laundry detergent at that time as well and finally we have things under control. For probably nearly six months now we have had absolutely neutral laundry. It wasn't a bad smell, it was just no smell. I like my laundry to smell fabulous - there are few things better than opening the dryer and smelling all those warm clothes! But for Kady's sake we have all adjusted to our positively skin-friendly, very boring clothes.

I signed up for the Green Works blog tour with Mom Central not thinking that the addition of scents might flare up Kady's eczema again, but when I received my bottle of detergent (AND stain remover!) in the mail I was pleased to read that it's dermatologist tested. It's a step in the right direction knowing that Clorox cares enough to test its products, right? After visiting the website and reading "clothes washed in Green Works™ natural laundry detergent won't leave a harsh chemical residue and are gentle on skin. Yet it still cleans with the power you expect from Clorox." WAHOO!! And? AND? There is also a dye-free and fragrance-free variety, too. Oh, Clorox, you made me love you.

I decided I wasn't going to tell the family I was using a different detergent because I wanted to see if anyone noticed and I wanted to see if Kady would complain about her skin without knowing something was different. The first time I opened the bottle I thought the fragrance seemed kind of strong, but I told myself that I had been doing boring laundry for so long my nose was out of practice. From washer to dryer I was pleased with how things looked and smelled and ohhhhh my when I opened that dryer and there were all those wonderfully scented warm clothes just waiting for me to sniff....well, let me tell you without shame, folks, I SNIFFED.

I've done probably 20 loads of laundry with Green Works Original Scent natural detergent and so far there have been no skin issues and I've noticed that when the kids come get their folded laundry to take to their rooms they immediately bury their faces in and sniff like there's no tomorrow. The clothes are clean and I feel better knowing the detergent I'm using is fully biodegradable and never tested on animals.

I also received a bottle of the stain remover and have used it on muddy puppy prints on jeans legs, chocolate ice cream spilled down a pink t-shirt and a glop of makeup, but I really put it to the test the other night after Paul and I worked at the Park of Lights in the rain. Because I have embarrassingly short legs I step on the hems of my jeans all the time. They are always stained and always gross, especially in rainy weather. When we got home I sprayed the hems of my pants down with Green Works and let them soak for about 30 minutes then threw them in the wash. There is no trace whatsoever of mud on my pants legs! I've used the same laundry stain remover for my entire 17 years of being a homemaker, but I now have a new brand.

Check out the Green Works website for more information. I made the switch to Green Works household cleaners and dish soap earlier in the year and it's safe to say I haven't been disappointed with any of the products I've tried. And right now their website is offering a coupon for $3 off their laundry detergent!

"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Clorox Green Works and received a bottle of Green Works Natural Detergent and Stain Remover to facilitate my review and a $20 thank-you gift certificate."

It's Fancy - It's Nancy's!

2009-12-04T12:23:00.000-06:00

It's time for holiday parties, family get-togethers and snow days! Here at my house we've been fans of Nancy's Appetizers for a long time - even though I am an avid do-it-yourselfer in the kitchen. The Petite Quiches are my absolute, all-time favorites in the Nancy's line because you can't make mini quiches as good - and as affordable - as Nancy's can! I've also tried the Deli Spirals and well....YUM!

I like the fact that any appetizer I've tried from Nancy's tastes fresh and is always delicious. They don't taste like some frozen food with that well, frozen taste. And the crusts on those quiche! Oh lawsy, it's flaky and buttery and just all-around yummalicious, as my 7 year old says.

The Petite Quiche are so handy as well because if you're stuck home on a snowy day and don't feel like eating SpaghettiO's and vienna sausages with the kids for lunch you can just put a quiche (or seven) in the oven and leave the rest for a different snowy day!

MomCentral was kind enough to send me a coupon for a FREE 12-count box of any Nancy's Appetizer - and they sent one for one of you, too! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment and tell me if your family has a traditional Christmas dinner with ham, turkey and all the trimmings or if y'all are more a potluck or sandwiches type group. We're potluck all the way and Nancy's Appetizers always make an appearance!

You can enter until Monday at 9am, so leave your comment and tell your friends! Make sure you leave a valid email in your comment so I can contact you if you win!

"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Nancy’s Appetizers and received 2 coupons to facilitate my review and a $20 thank-you gift certificate."

I heart cereal

2009-11-27T11:51:00.000-06:00

We are a big cereal-eatin' family around here, especially now that basketball practices have started and those coincide with little theatre practices. There are a lot of evenings we just grab a bowl of cereal before practice and then try to eat something resembling a meal afterward. It's a glamorous life we lead, lemme tell ya.

That all being said, I am a pretty picky cereal eater and have passed that snootiness down to my children. There are only a handful of cereals we will eat. MomCentral offered up a review of the new fiber-added Kellogg's Apple Jacks and Froot Loops and I jumped seeing as how Froot Loops are one of my favorites! I was tickled when I found out we were getting Froot Loops AND Apple Jacks to try!

The day the box came in the mail Conner, my cousin's baby, got his little toy screwdriver and tried valiantly to open the box to get at the goodies inside. When I finally helped him and we opened it to expose the cereal-y treasures inside he looked at the box, looked at me, looked at the box and whispered, "Wow." I totally agreed. He chose Apple Jacks first. I, however, chose Froot Loops. We were both silent for many minutes as we partook of the joyous delights - and increased the fiber in our diets quiet tastily!

9 out of 10 kids - and adults! - lack enough fiber in their diets. In fact, most people only get HALF of what they need when it comes to daily fiber. Kelloggs understands how difficult it is to increase a child's intake because, well, frankly no one's come up with a way to make fiber fun and delicious - until now. Apple Jacks and Froot Loops now have three grams of fiber per serving! These cereals include ingredients such as whole-grain corn flour, whole-grain oat flour, oat fiber and soluble corn fiber. They also plan to extend the added fiber benefits to their other cereal lines over the next year. Maybe I won't avoid the cereal aisle so much anymore...

I decided to set up a little taste test in my kitchen and unbeknownst to them, my kids were the guinea pigs, I mean subjects. I had received two boxes of Apple Jacks WITH fiber and a box of Froot Loops with and a box without added fiber. The kids had absolutely no idea there was any difference in the Froot Loops with or without fiber and frankly, I can't tell either. They have already devoured both boxes of Apple Jacks with fiber as well. YAY! I can now feel slightly better about throwing a bowl of cereal at the kids on the way out the door for practices and rehearsals knowing that I am giving them something more nutritionally sound. Score one for me - and Kellogg's!

"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Kellogg’s and received boxes of Froot Loops and Apple Jacks and a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate."

Lakeshore Christmas

2009-11-16T13:24:00.002-06:00

I don't get to read as much as I used to. Before I had kids it was nothing for me to read several books in a week, but as my kids were born and I became a stay-at-home mom I found my reading time limited to Dr. Seuss books and Goodnight Moon. Now that my kids are older I have more time to read again (Oh, basketball practice, how I love thee!), but I'm having to develop the habit all over again. I'd never signed up for a book tour from MotherTalk before and thought that the book, Lakeshore Christmas, sounded like as good a place as any to start.

Now, normally I shy away from romance stories because they tend to frustrate me and make me wish my life was as romantic and ooey-gooey as the characters' in the story, but since this story was a Christmas romance I deemed it worthy of my hardened heart. The story takes place in Avalon, aka Smalltown, America, and centers around the librarian, Maureen Davenport, a staunch supporter and lover of all things Christmas and her task of producing the town's annual Christmas play. She's the quintessential librarian, complete with two cats and her hair in a tight bun, and likes her life to be uncomplicated and simple. Enter former child star Eddie Haven who turns her world upside down as he helps her with the play - and in the process helps her find her heart. Sprinkle into the story a crisis that could leave the town without a library, a couple of side stories about other citizens of Avalon and a mysterious boy named Jabez and you really have yourself a wonderful holiday read by the fire.

While the story was a little hard to get into for me, as it wound on I became more involved in the characters I was so caught up in the town's people and their lives and their dramas I found the book hard to put down. My husband has a new work schedule on the weekends so one weekend after I got him off to work at 4am I managed to get so caught up in the story before I knew it the sun was up and so were my kids!

I didn't realize until after I finished it that this book is part of the Lakeshore Chronicles series, but I had no problem getting involved with the characters, so it's evident that the story can also be read as a stand-alone novel. I have every intention of looking into more books by the author, Susan Wiggs, and reading the rest of the Lakeshore Chronicles.

Next time there's a forecast of snow, go check out this book (or better yet buy it!), pour yourself a cup of hot chocolate, grab your favorite blanket, curl up in the window seat and enjoy Lakeshore Christmas.

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by MotherTalk on behalf of Lakeshore Christmas and received a copy of the book to facilitate my candid review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.”

Crazy for Some Crazy Love

2009-11-11T13:26:00.001-06:00

I am a cuh-razy fan of Michael Buble', so when One2One Network offered up a review of his new CD "Crazy Love" I just about drove to their home office and sat outside with a sandwich board on offering my services. I really do love me some Buble'.

This new CD is my favorite of all of them - and trust me, I have all of them. It features his newest single "Haven't Met You Yet" which is just an endearing little song about the love of our life who, if we haven't already found them, is out there, even if we just don't know who it is yet. My favorite song from the CD is "Hold On" which brings me to tears every time I hear it. And "Georgia on My Mind"? Yeah. I melt. There's only one song I'm not crazy about and that's "Heartache Tonight" and I think it's only because it's an Eagles song and really, no one should mess with Eagles songs. Period. (No offense, Michael.)

The stops were pulled out for this CD and as always, Michael's voice is swoon-rendering and can make even the hardest of hearts flutter. I also like the pairings he's done on this album with artists Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Naturally 7 and Ron Sexsmith. All of them wonderful.

Here's the tracklist:

Album Tracklisting:
1. Cry Me A River
2. All Of Me
3. Georgia On My Mind
4. Crazy Love
5. Haven't Met You Yet
6. All I Do Is Dream Of You
7. Hold On
8. Heartache Tonight
9. You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You
10. Baby (You've Got What It Takes)
11. At This Moment
12. Stardust
13. Whatever It Takes (bonus track)

Make sure to check out Michael's website: www.michaelbuble.com and here's the link to that new video that you just have to go see RIGHT NOW. I MEAN IT.

Well, after you go buy this CD. And then call me so we can spend the evening hot rolling our hair, gossiping and giggling over how cute he is.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by One2One Network and received a CD in exchange for my review.

Harry, Baby!

2009-10-06T19:48:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we watched the movie New in Town with Renee Zellweger and Harry Connick Jr. The movie itself could've been a big ol' bunch of stink (it wasn't, by the way - totally wasn't) but I'd have watched it no matter what because of Harry Connick Jr. Heck, I'd have watched Borat if Harry Jr. would've been in it. He's just some serious eye candy. So naturally, when One2One Network offered HCJ's new CD Your Songs for review, I jumped. I'm a sucker for a man with a voice like that. A total sucker.

This CD is just chock full of his swoon-inducing voice covering some of the great oldies and not so oldies (I refuse to consider Billy Joel songs "oldies"):

Album Tracklisting (Originally performed by):

All The Way (Frank Sinatra)
Just The Way You Are (Billy Joel)
Can’t Help Falling In Love With You (Elvis Presley)
And I Love Her (The Beatles)
(They Long To Be) Close To You (The Carpenters)
Besame Mucho
The Way You Look Tonight
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Roberta Flack)
Your Song (Elton John)
Some Enchanted Evening
And I Love You So (Don McLean)
Who Can I Turn To? (Tony Bennett)
Smile (Charlie Chaplin)
Mona Lisa (Nat King Cole)

Eye candy and ear candy - happy cooler weather to me! This is the perfect CD to curl up on the couch and listen to while the snow falls. I can just envision me tuning out the kids on a snow day by listening to Harry Connick Jr. telling me about the first time ever he saw my face... *sigh*

Other links:
Behind the Scene look at ‘Making of’ the album: http://bit.ly/HCJrVideo
Harry’s website: http://www.harryconnickjr.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/harryconnickjr

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by One2One Network and received a CD in exchange for my review.

A Place for Moms

2009-09-13T14:33:00.001-05:00

My kids have been back to school for nearly a month now and I still find myself struggling to get a handle on this routine. Abby's in 7th grade this year so that means she has ballgames and dances and social activities she didn't have last year and those always seem to hit me right upside the head and have me running around screaming like that kid in Home Alone. Plus Sam is in 5th grade this year - the first year of two really hard years at the kids' school. I have developed a theory that 5th and 6th grade are like boot camp for the Marines - they break them down, beat the tar out of them and teach them way more than they can process so that by 7th grade they are less likely to be sold to the gypsies by their exhausted parents who are tired of the tears (their and their child's).

All that being said, it's no wonder I feel like I could use some motherly advice. Oh, not from my mother (though hers is always helpful) but I mean for me as a mother. Mom Central came to the rescue and introduced us mom-bloggers to the MSN Homeroom website. The blog tour was set for two weeks, but with losing my Nana last week I didn't get to spend as much time as I would've liked prior to writing the review, however I have pored over the site as much as I could and bookmarked it so I can go back time and time again. You know, so I can avoid selling my kids to the gypsies as the school year continues.

I think what I liked most about the site was the brevity in all the videos and articles. We're MOMS - we don't have time to sit and read four page long articles and 30 minute videos sometimes what with all the taxi driving and homework checking we have to do! I was able to watch several little videos with great ideas and tips and because they're so short and to the point I could watch more in the limited times I had throughout the day. The moms on the site are professionals, too - an MD, a homeschooling stay-at-home mom, a child psychiatrist and a former Teacher of the Year. These gals knows their mom-ing!

There are forums for moms to bounce ideas off each other and while there seemed to be a lot of comments removed due to folks spamming or trying to advertise, the site managed to get them off kindly and quickly. I didn't participate in very many discussions, but read quite a few, gleaned a few great ideas including "ice cream and cake" for breakfast. I can't wait to try this one instead of our usual toaster pastries!

There are several topics on the site, including writing, attentiveness, giving back, and memory. All of them are relative to what moms and kids (and dads!) deal with on a daily basis. How nice to have a community to participate in discussions, gather ideas and then use the ideas to keep us from selling our kids to the gypsies - I mean, to make our children better citizens, better students and better people in general! Thanks Mom Central and MSN Mom's Homeroom!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Shake Your Cinnabon-bon

2009-07-31T09:05:00.000-05:00

I have a real problem with most snack bars. I'm not saying they're not good, but I find them lacking. Meaning, I want like, two. Or seven.

I have only tried actual Cinnabon cinnamon rolls once in my life and it was after having spent the night in the Kansas City airport and just before boarding a plane for Orlando. I was so tired I vaguely remember the greatness of it. That makes me sad - that I squandered away all that is Cinnabon-y goodness in a sleep-deprived stupor.

Mom Central made new Kellogg's Cinnabon Snack Bars available to try and I figured, "Hey, I'm getting ample sleep these days, why not? Maybe I can actually enjoy these." They came in the mail and I did my usual Happy Mailbox Dance of Joy when Mom Central packages arrive and then I sat the box carefully on the counter and threatened the children TO STAY AWAY FROM THE CINNABON. I'm kinda territorial like that.

The first one I tried (after holding the children at bay with an electric cattle prod) was under extreme hunger duress and all I could concentrate on was getting the package open and the food in my mouth. I kid you not, I am taking no poetic liberties or editorial privilege when I say I put a bite in my mouth, chewed, then literally stopped chewing, closed my eyes and sighed. Seriously. I was not expecting it to be that good. Shame on me for that one.

The crust is light and crumbly, the filling is rich and just the right amount of cinnamon - not too much, not too little - and the icing? Ohhhhhhh baby. It is probably ten kinds of wrong to have this kind of relationship with a snack bar, but if it's wrong I don't want to be right.

In the early morning hours a Cinnabon Snack Bar and a cup of coffee are my little bit of quiet indulgence. Okay, so it's summer and by "early morning hours" I mean, somewhere around 9:30 or 10, but hey, stop picking, you. It's still quiet and I am so indulging. And what I like best is that one is enough. They are rich enough that one makes the hungry go away and 150 calories per bar is, as my pre-teen would say, SUH-WEET. Literally.

You should go get some. Now. And then you should come share them with me - I'm out.

Big thanks to Mom Central for making this blog tour happen!

Moooooooo

2009-07-23T11:08:00.000-05:00

I have three kids and only two of them are milk drinkers. Those two will come in from playing outside in the hot 100 degree Oklahoma summer heat and pour a big ol' tall glass of milk and chug away. And considering that my oldest is nearly 13 I am tickled that she still drinks milk with meals and hasn't developed her momma's bad sweet tea habit. That third child, unfortunately, takes after her mother and doesn't much care for milk, so when Mom Central offered the Why Milk? blog tour I jumped at it - especially after they mentioned recipes to help get your family on the dairy train.

The Why Milk? website is absolutely chock full of information. I spent some time analyzing my daily beverages and discovered that by not drinking milk I am really shortchanging myself in the vitamin department, something I guess I'd never really given much thought. I'm not saying I'm going to run in right now and drink a half-gallon of milk straight from the carton, but I am going to make a more conscious effort to include milk in my diet since I'm all like, knockin' on the ripe old age of 40's door and all. Plus, that non-dairy child of mine could use a boost as well....

Which brings me to my next paragraph: RECIPES! I am a sucker for a recipe section of a website and wasn't disappointed in the least by the selection at the Why Milk? site. Sam just got braces and a horrific, medievel-looking torture device known as a Rapid Palate Expander which basically means the little dude is on a pretty squishy diet for the next week or so. We've been trying out smoothie recipes for a week or so and we've all decided that the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cup smoothie is DA BOMB and even little Kady No-Milk likes it! And Berry Dairy Dream? Ohhhhhhh yeah. It's my personal favorite. Soup-er Creamy Veggie Soup is on the list for when the weather cools off because here in Oklahoma I think it's state law you can't eat soup when the temperatures outside are this close to boiling.

I think the Why Milk? website is great and am so glad Mom Central partnered up with the Milk Council to bring this blog tour around. I wasn't aware a website about milk could be so informative, to be honest. I worry about my youngest's milk intake and am going to work harder to "sneak" some milk into her diet - thanks to the Why Milk? website I'm armed and ready!

I Wanna Rock! (Beware: the words "awesome" and "rock" are well overused in this post)

2009-07-07T16:31:00.001-05:00

This past Christmas my son, Sam, got a dual-guitar Guitar Hero pack for the Wii and since then I have discovered that I am freakin' AWESOME. I mean, most of you already knew I was awesome to begin with, but I AM EVEN AWESOMER NOW because I can hold my own against Slash in a face-off and I can do it in my pajamas. Once, when Mom and Pops were over and Tater and I were duelling, Mom said, "Oh look, honey, Kristin thinks she's playing a real guitar! Isn't she cute?" Well, she was just discovering my awesome-ness, that's all.

All that being said, when MomCentral sent out the call for moms who wanted to review Guitar Hero On Tour for Nintendo DS I was SO. THERE. And since we own more than one Nintendo DS we got TWO - Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades and Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits - to try out. Unfortunately, for them anyway, the two older kids just happened to get their DS's taken away for fighting the morning they came in the mail, so that meant Kady and I had complete reign over the games for two whole days. I probably don't need to tell you how awesome we are and just how much we rocked out.

And before I go further - anything that includes Tenacious D is gold, baby. GOLD.

The games come with a fret adapter that has the colored fret keys like you find on a Guitar Hero guitar. Instead of using a regular ol' boring stylus, Guitar Hero for Nintendo DS comes with a "pick". Oh yes. And it's awesome. You plug the fret adapter into the DS, pop in the game card, grab your pick and proceed to get busy. I like the fact that with two DS's you can use wireless magic to duel. I totally kicked my 7 year old's butt on more than one occasion. I also managed to kick her butt while she was in the 3rd row seat of the van and I was rockin' it in the front seat. (No, I wasn't driving. Her daddy was driving, pretending he didn't know the strange woman sitting next to him strumming like a madwoman.) The wireless option is also convenient when the kids are fighting, but don't want to play themselves - they can sit in their own rooms and kick their siblings' rear end without having to look at them. Hey, it's summer and I'm a stay-at-home mom. I will take relief and peace however I can get it.

The only thing I found that was not 100% awesome about the game is that if you tend to get a little uhm....into your game the adapter has a tendency to slip out, causing the screens to go black and thus causing you to shriek and scream and force yourself to hold back tears. Or maybe that's just me with the tears.... I read in another review that she had the same problem until she just quit using the strap that holds your hand securely to the adapter. I haven't tried not using the strap yet, but logically it seems that that might work.

I think the games are great. Sam had been wanting to get one for awhile and I was leary about it, not sure how playing guitar on a hand-held game would work, but after trying Guitar Hero On Tour for Nintendo DS, I can say that it really does, indeed, rock. Literally.

Many, many thanks to MomCentral for hookin' me and my kiddos up with two games to try!

Skinny is yummy

2009-05-29T16:51:00.001-05:00

I am not a big ice cream fan, but I have a tween who loves ice cream more than she loves shoes and that is a LOT. (When I told her that I had been chosen to be a part of the Skinny Cow blog tour from MomCentral the child did a cartwheel. Seriously.) Now, please don't misunderstand me - I may not be a big fan of ice cream in general but don't you dare deny me access to ice cream sandwiches when I get a hankerin' for one. Just don't.

My sister actually discovered Skinny Cows when she started Weight Watchers several years ago because the chocolate and vanilla ice cream sandwiches are have 2 Points apiece. The woman had a deep, meaningful relationship with Skinny Cows that year. I was skeptical about them because, well, let's just be honest: Sometimes low-fat food doesn't taste all that great. Either it's got a funky whang to it or it's devoid of all flavor. That is not the case with Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. I really do like them! They don't taste any different than regular ice cream sandwiches in my opinion. Each sandwich has 140 calories and 2 grams fat - in my mind it's guilt-free indulgence! The diet experts say you have to treat yourself occasionally - Skinny Cow products allow you to treat yourself AND stay on track!

It's heating up here in Oklahoma and let me tell ya, trying to find your favorite flavor of ice cream is difficult, so the day we took the coupons to Walmart the only flavor ice cream sandwich available was vanilla. No worries. I hadn't backed my van out of the parking space before the kids had already broken into a package and were scarfing them down. They seemed satisfied. Now, because I am a mother I have learned that keeping my mouth shut is essential when it comes to food and children. I waited until the last drip of ice cream was licked from the last finger before I asked the kids how they liked their low-fat treats. A few seconds of silence ensued while they decided if they still liked what they had just devoured or if they were going to get all weird about it. The unanimous decision was WHO CARES.

We managed to demolish the two packages in a matter of about 28.3 hours and today when we got about halfway home from grocery shopping Sam whined, "Mom! We forgot the Skinny Cows!" So we'll be making another quick trip into Walmart to pick up more this evening.

Thanks to Skinny Cow for making watching our weight a little easier and tastier!

And thanks to MomCentral for the opportunity to try out the treats!

Ragu to you, too!

2009-05-04T08:20:00.000-05:00

From the time my kids were little their favorite thing to eat has been spaghetti. It used to drive my mom crazy that I'd just dump their spaghetti on their highchair tray and let 'em go at it - she said they would grow up to be savages. I'm happy to report, though, that none of them wear loincloths and they all three know how to use a fork. Savages, HA! I just taught them how to really enjoy their food.

And speaking of enjoying food, when MomCentral sent out the call for volunteers to try out Ragu's two newest flavors - Sweet Tomato Basil and Margherita - I put down my loincloth and signed right up. The store was out the first time I tried to buy them and then here in northeast Oklahoma we had to start drawing up a blueprint for an ark and lining up the animals in pairs, so I've been behind schedule on trying them out and then posting about them, but I'm happy to report I'm back in the saddle again and we have scrapped our ark-building plans.

Let me just be completely honest when I say that normally I buy the cheap spaghetti sauce and then doctor it up to make it taste good. I probably spend more in spices than I would to just buy Ragu, but I'm rather daft that way sometimes. It was so refreshing to make spaghetti and not have to do anything more than pour in the sauce and serve it. We opted to use the Margherita on our spaghetti and then we sampled the Sweet Tomato Basil with some cheese bread. The kids loved the Margherita and I've gotta say, it was my favorite, too. It was rich and thick and everyone had seconds. I froze the remainder of the Sweet Tomato Basil to use the next time I make my Party Pasta Bowl. The Ragu website also has recipe suggestions and meal planning ideas to help us busy ark-building mothers.

And even though my children may be borderline savages, they had over a full serving of veggies every time they ate a serving of Ragu the other night. That made me happy since only one of them is a vegetable lover - the other are very anti-veggie. Savages, indeed.

Thanks to Ragu for making something as simple as pasta sauce healthier for my crew and thanks to MomCentral for making this blog tour available!

And now I'm off to herd those dang animals back to the wild....

Mildew - EW

2009-04-20T14:14:00.000-05:00

MomCentral sent out the email for the X-14 Mold & Mildew Stain Remover blog tour just about the time that I had waged war on the mildew stains in my two showers.

The main bathroom is a veritable Woodstock for mildew with a propensity to party hardy because there is no window, no ventilation. Like, peace, love and mildew, man. In other words, it's disgusting.

Abby's bathroom is Mildew Central because well, she's 12. She is the child that just last week found a petrified piece of popcorn chicken in her dresser drawer and thought it was hilarious that I freaked out. All I can say is, I hope she either does a whole lot of changing before she becomes an adult or that her husband is a very tolerant person who enjoys cleaning.

When I finished doing the Happy Mailbox Dance (packages from MomCentral always induce the dance) I waged war on the mildew in my bathrooms.

I had just attacked the week earlier with another major name brand bleach-based cleaner with very poor results. Oh sure, the stains faded some, but I wanted them GONE. To be honest, I was skeptical that X-14 could do any better - HOWEVER, X-14 Mold & Mildew Stain Remover has a bleach level that is generally 60% higher than similar products on the market. And let me tell you something:

The mildew is gone. As in GONE. No more. And I'm incredibly impressed at how they are staying gone. The packaging boasts that surfaces will stay stain-free for up to two weeks. So far, I have yet to see the stains come back. The mildew hippies must've known how mad I was. Now, be warned, the higher level of bleach in X-14 Mold & Mildew Stain Remover means that the smell of bleach is well, about 60% stronger (if I were a betting woman). I highly recommend using fans and open windows when using it.

All in all, I'm giving it two very non-mildewy thumbs up. Thanks to MomCentral for making my bathrooms happier places!

Twisty - a review

2009-04-03T22:16:00.000-05:00

MomCentral once again made a super blog tour available to us reviewers - Eggo Bake Shop Twists. When I was telling my cousin Courtney about getting ready to review two of the flavors she said, "It's from Eggo so it's bound to be good." She was right.

I was sent coupons for two free boxes, one strawberry and one apple. I made one of each flavor, cut them into pieces and then set the plate in the middle of the floor and backed away slowly as my family jumped on it like a bunch of hungry wolverines. Pastry in my house is always cause for excitement.

Sam declined to particpate in the review seeing as how he's insanely picky and completely unopen to trying new things, but of the four of us wolverines who partook, the general consensus is that the strawberry is the best. I personally prefer the apple, so YAY the remaining three in the package of apple flavor are all mine.

The pastry is fluffy and rich, the filling is just the right amount and it doesn't get much easier than 25 seconds in the microwave. I do think that $2 for a package of four is a little more indulgent than I tend to get for breakfast pastry, so I'll probably just hide the next package I buy in the back of the freezer and break 'em out after the kids go to school. They can continue eating generic cereal like always. I'm giving like that.

Big thanks to MomCentral for the coupons and the opportunity to try Eggo Bake Shop Twists!

Pain-free and Germ-free - my two favorite frees!

2009-03-20T12:50:00.001-05:00

When MomCentral sent out the email for the NEOSPORIN® blog tour, this interesting fact was included: 40% of homes have an expired topical antibiotic in the medicine cabinet. Reading this prompted me to immediately go to the medicine cabinet and check.

My NEOSPORIN® expired in 2006. The tube in the first aid kit in the van? Expired in 2004.

Yes. I am serious.

Of course, I internally wrestled with the decision - throw it out now or wait for my free samples to arrive in the mail? I mean, what if all three kids suddenly had bike wrecks that afternoon and needed wound care? Then I realized, if the tube I had in my hand had expired in 2006 it probably wasn't going to do anyone much good anyway, so I tossed it.

A few days later my brand new, totally not expired samples came in the mail and I was ready to take on splinters, bike wrecks, skinned knees and any other minor cut, scrape or bump that might occur. The box of samples from MomCentral and Johnson's included a tube each of NEOSPORIN® + Pain Relief Ointment and Cream AND a handy dandy NEO TO GO!® First Aid Antiseptic/Pain Relieving Spray. At the risk of sounding WAY too excited about a pain relieving/antiseptic product, I am going to say this - THIS STUFF IS AMAZING! I mean, everyone knows that NEOSPORIN® is the best way to prevent infection in minor cuts and scrapes but the + pain relief is a total bonus, especially for minor burns.

Last Saturday Kady went to a birthday party at a gym for kids that beheld seven - yes SEVEN - gigantic blow-up bouncy things on which the children bounced and bounced and bounced and bounced....you get it, right? Well, in addition to the bouncing, there was also friction burning. Kady came running to me with tears in her eyes, holding her arm out going, "IT BURNS! OWOWOWOWOWOWOWWWWW!" My initial thought was to get a wet paper towel for her to hold on it, but then I remembered my NEO TO GO!® I whipped it out of my purse, sprayed her arm and sent her on her way. I sprayed her four more times before we left the gym and every time she was instantly soothed. This past week we went on vacation and Paul got a splinter in his hand at the zoo. After I pulled out the splinter I sprayed it with my NEO TO GO!® Oh, and Sam's hangnail? Yeah, I sprayed it, too.

I am unstoppable.

I am the keeper away-er of pain and germs.

I am Mom.

I have NEOSPORIN® and I'm not afraid to use it.

I challenge you, dear readers, to go to your medicine cabinet right now and check your tubes of NEOSPORIN®. If they are expired, TOSS THEM and go buy some new tubes along with a NEO TO GO!® for your purse. Then you, too, can be the unstoppable keeper away-er of pain and germs. We could even get capes.

Thanks to Johnson's and MomCentral for the samples and the wake-up call to check my medicine cabinet!

Mmmmmm fresh!

2009-03-09T14:59:00.000-05:00

We have three kids and we live in the country, plus there are always extra kids running in and out of our house at any given time. Friday I think there were 8 of the little hooligans in my yard and in the house. I say "I think" because really, with that many why bother to keep count?

Needless to say, my carpet is in need of a pick-me-up from time to time; maybe more often than I need one. When MomCentral sent out the call for people to test and review Carpet Fresh Carpet & Room Odor Eliminator I couldn't wait to jump on the chance. The first time I used it I sprayed it on the living room and entryway carpet just before I went to bed on a night Paul was working until midnight. He woke me up to ask why the house smelled so good. Now, I could take it that our house is normally stinky, but I prefer to just take it that he admired my mad housekeeping skills and actually noticed I'd done something. Yeah.

The sample I received from MomCentral is the Morning Rain scent and it's a nice spring-y scent, not too overwhelming and very clean-smelling. I will be buying more because I think I may have developed an addiction. It's a quick-dry foam, a feature I love because with an 8 month old sitting, laying, scooting and otherwise drooling on my floor 5 days out of the week I don't have time to sit and hold him for a couple of hours while some smell-good stuff dries on my carpet. In fact, I was amazed at how quickly it dries! It says you can "Just spray and walk away!" and really? You can! I don't always have time to vacuum, but I do have a few extra seconds (occasionally) to spray my carpet and give my house a little burst of fragrance.

Make sure you check out the website, investigate the fragrances and then download a coupon for your very own can of Carpet Fresh Carpet & Room Odor Eliminator!

Thanks for MomCentral for making this blog tour available and sending out a sample!

Wow! Wow! Winner!

2009-02-25T15:03:00.002-06:00

Because I had a whopping TWO entries in the last drawing I will give away TWO copies of the Wubbzy! DVD. One is missing the shrink-wrap because we watched it to review it, but hey, as long as you're not picky, it's yours. I already emailed Blondie, but Brenda S., I need you to zip me an email with your mailing address and I'll zip you off a copy of the DVD, too!

Congrats to you both and thanks for being such a great - albeit small - audience!

Wow! Wow! Review-zy! And give-zy!

2009-02-19T21:19:00.000-06:00

Being a stay-at-home mom for over 12 years now I have become acquainted with my share of children's programming. My kids are getting older now and they're a bit harder to entertain. I'll be honest, when I got the email that I was chosen to be part of the Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! blog tour for MomCentral I was probably more excited than most 36 year olds should be. Really, the baby just loves Nick Jr. Really. The baby. *cough* But I knew that the real test would be getting the bigger kids excited. Instantly, the 12 year old opted out. Hey, that's understandable what with all the angst and drama coming from her very core of existence. When the DVDs came in the mail I did the happy mailbox dance. Again. (MomCentral just does that to me.)

Then we got the flu. No one felt like doing anything other than whining about being alive in such a pitiful state. Wubbzy was, for a time, forgotten. *cue sad abandonment music*

But today Nonner and I decided to put the DVD for some uninterrupted viewing time. Okay, really the 8 month old had nothing to do with the decision... Anyway, he loved it. And y'all? So did I. I couldn't help but sing along and man, did I suddenly feel the urge to play some kickity kick ball.

We were into the second episode on the DVD when the five school kids got off the bus. I held my breath to see if the living room would be empty after they devoured their snacks. Of course, the 12 year old took her Froot by the Foot and headed for her room, but the other four were hooked.
The 7 year old was singing along and dancing and Sam, who is 10, said, "Hey, this is really pretty good. Ya know...for a kid show." (He gave it a hearty 8 out of 10, which I thought was pretty good from a 4th grade dude.)

A Little Help From My Friends is the title of the DVD, which features six episodes involving Wubbzy and his friends that cover social skills such as getting along with others, confidence, learning to accept help, teamwork and of course, friendship. The songs are catchy and I just really was impressed with how much was on the DVD. Also, be sure to check out the website for games and activities and more information the show itself, which airs on Nick Jr. and Noggin. There's also a "Wubblog" - can it get any better?

Actually, yes it can - because the kind folks at MomCentral sent me an extra copy to give away! All you have to do to enter to win A Little Help From My Friends is leave a comment. I'm not even gonna make you jump through a hoop and answer a question (it's the germs - they've softened my hard heart). However, make sure you leave a way for me to get hold of you if the accounting firm of Diva and Associates chooses you to be the lucky winner of this Wubbalicious DVD! Tell your friends! Link to this post and get an extra entry - just make sure you leave me the link. Comments and the contest will close Monday, February 23rd and I'll announce the winner that afternoon.

Thanks for MomCentral for the DVDs and this great blog tour!

Staying Safe

2009-02-17T21:33:00.000-06:00

Like my momma always said: You can never be too careful. Actually I don't remember my momma saying that an awful lot, but that's beside the point. It's still good advice.

And now that I'm a momma myself and I have three school-age kids who are pretty net-savvy I find myself saying and thinking that phrase pretty often. We have a computer that is pretty much set up just for the kids. They are monitored on it and can only go to sites approved by me. But still....they need to be armed with information that they'll use even when I'm not around. Because their friends have computers, too and strangely, I'm not invited to slumber parties anymore. They're so closed-minded that way.

At Abby's high school in recent weeks a group of girls got in major trouble with the DA and even the FBI when their hate page on the web went too far. Kids need to know that behavior like that is cyber-bullying and not acceptable. Back when I was a kid the only bullying we dealt with was the big kids in the back of the bus or the occasional mean girl in the locker room. Now kids are getting threatened and embarrassed and brutalized online as well - online where we parents aren't necessarily watching over them all the time.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has set up a website to educate tweens and teens on internet safety. NSTeens is just for teens and tweens with comics and videos to watch about keeping themselves safe, what to do about cyberbullying and how much information is too much to share online. The characters in the videos and comics have bios that let them seem more real and personal to kids. Abby, my tween, declared it "cool". Do you really need more of an endorsement than that?

Thanks, MomCentral, for letting us know about this informative website!

C is for Cookie

2009-02-05T22:00:00.001-06:00

Those of you who have read my other blog for awhile know that I used to be a Girl Scout leader back in the day. When Abby was a 2nd grader and on up to 5th grade we met every Tuesday and talked badges and manners and crafts and community service and most importantly, once a year we sold .....

COOKIES!

I was a Girl Scout from 1st grade up until I was a Sophomore so I did my share of cookie-selling as a kid and then managed and organized and watched helplessly as my house turned into a Keebler tree gone wrong as an adult. But man, it was worth it. The girls learned networking skills and I was bound and determined that my daughter would learn to count back change just like my momma taught me when I was a mere 4th grader.

While we're no longer involved in Girl Scouts, I do wholeheartedly believe in the organization and what it does to empower and strengthen the women of the future - our daughters.

That being said, The Oklahoma College Savings Plan website is running a campaign allowing Oklahomans everywhere to vote for their favorite Girl Scout cookie flavor.

(Don't tell the Samoas, but I voted for the Tagalongs. I couldn't help it. The power of peanut butter is strong with that one.)

When you get to the ballot page you can read "speeches" by each cookie, extolling their very own virtues and why they deserve to be Oklahoma's Favorite Cookie.

In a recent press release Oklahoma State Treasurer, Scott Meacham, says,

"Oklahomans have until March 31, 2009 to cast their vote on the Oklahoma CollegeSavings Plan website. The winning cookie will be announced on early April in a ceremony at the State Capital and the Girl Scout who sells the most cookies in Oklahoma will win $1,000 towards an Oklahoma College Savings Plan. The sales contest ends on March 31, 2009."

So not only will a cookie forever claim bragging rights to being da bomb, but a Girl Scout gets money for college! Everyone's a winner.

Check out the Oklahoma College Savings Plan website and cast your vote for ~~Tagalongs~~ your favorite cookie today!

Clean is Green!

2009-02-05T20:59:00.000-06:00

When MomCentral sent out the email for this blog tour I couldn't click the sign-up link quick enough. I have recently started using GreenWorks products here at the house and wanted to tell everyone about them!

I am a wee bit OCD, ya know, and loves me some cleaning products. I recently bought the GreenWorks glass and surface cleaner and fell in love with it. So naturally (Get it? Naturally?)the next thing would be to get MORE GreenWorks products. I bought a canister of the wipes and oh goodness gracious the cleaning I did that day! The wipes are strong and they get sticky Koolade drips off the kitche counter and hairspray buildup on the bathroom vanity and the gunk from the inside of the microwave and they basically kick butt and take names.

The only thing I would change about the wipes would be to make them disinfecting as well, but whaddaya know - the website says they are working on that! Leave it to Clorox to come up with a product that is effective and good for the environment! And well on its way to KILLING GERMS. They have MY vote!

Thanks for Clorox for not disapointing and thanks for MomCentral for making this tour available!

Drugs.com

2009-01-20T12:15:00.000-06:00

Any time my kids go spend the night with Tater or my mom they both sigh when I pull out the gallon size ziplock bag full of my kids' medications. I can't help it that one has chronic allergies, one has asthma and the other has GERD! That's the way God made 'em, is how I look at it.

That being said, the site Drugs.com is my new best friend. It's an informative website chock full of prescription and over-the-counter medication information - even herbal supplements. There's a "pill-finder" feature where you can browse by pill color and shape, you know, in the event you find a rogue pill somewhere in the house and need to identify it. There's also useful medical information and news as well.

The best part of the site, however, is MedNotes. It's a great way to keep all my kids' medication information in one place and it's also helpful in researching medications. You can list all current medications and their dosages, past medications, conditions and allergies and the thing I liked the best - you can print a pocket-sized report of all medications, allergies and conditions for each person listed. Kady's the asthmatic and I printed off her report and stuck it in her backpack with her inhaler so if, God forbid, she ever has an attack at school and her very understanding and aware teacher isn't available, whoever is close can look at that report and see what she needs and what's going on.

The site will also email me when the FDA issues a statement or warning about any of the meds the kids take. To me, this is just peace of mind.

Thanks to MomCentral for turning me onto this website!

Baby R'Minder

2008-12-15T14:55:00.000-06:00

When I started this review site it was mainly to keep track of my Mom Central reviews, but I also wanted to be able to review products, movies, books and anything else on my own as well. Occasionally a product comes along that really makes sense and it's even more awesome when that product is the creation of a family member. I'm proud to let y'all know about this product, the Baby R'minder.

We are a busy society. We are probably too busy for our own goods. I know I personally meet myself coming and going on a regular basis. My kids are all vocal, verbal and frankly, they never hush while we're in the car because they are in grade school and middle school and are therefore obnoxiously all up in my business, but what about a baby? Babies are most usually lulled to sleep by the rocking motion of the car. Infants in rear-facing car seats become almost invisible once they drift off to sleep - they are silent and not in your direct line of view. So, while we don't think it will ever happen to us, it's easy to see how sometimes babies are forgotten in cars.

We've all heard the tragic stories of busy moms and dads who have forgotten to drop their child off at the sitter or have forgotten them in the car while they go into a store. Statistics show that because of front seat airbags, the incidence of child death due to hyperthermia (body temperature getting too high) has risen dramatically. Children and infants aren't placed in the front seat anymore and because of that they are at a greater risk of being accidentally left in the car.

I babysit my cousin's baby and the first day she brought Nonner in with the Baby R'minder on his carseat I wasn't sure what to think, but what she said makes sense - if you have a visual, tactile, solid reminder of your baby the chances of a tragedy like leaving them in the car decreases. The Baby R'minder hooks at one end to the child's carseat and at the other end to your keys, tethering you to your child and giving you a visual reminder of them even if you can't see their adorable little face. When your keys come out of the ignition the strap connected to the carseat reminds you that your precious cargo is in the backseat.

The Baby R'minder comes in your choice of colors and the length is adjustable. We've used it in a Chevy HHR, a Dodge Ram pickup, a Chevy Impala and a Dodge Caravan - we've run the gambit as far as vehicle sizes and have never had any problems with running out of length.

The Baby R'minder sells for $14.95 with free shipping. I've done some looking around online and I haven't found another similar product as versatile and affordable as this one. And I'm really not just saying that because my Aunt Janet came up with this product - I found a carseat alarm/reminder system online for $275, but if you have an infant you probably don't have $275 just lying around the house. (And if you do, please let me know your secret.)

If you are interested in purchasing a Baby R'minder or would just like more information email me and we'll do our best to answer your questions and take care of your order. theredneckdiva[at] gmail [dot] com) Eventually we'll get a shop set up on Etsy.com, so be on the lookout for that because, of course, I'll announce it on here!

None of the parents that have accidentally left a child in a car are bad parents and like my aunt, the inventor of Baby R'minder said, "People who aren't busy probably don't need one of these." You know as well as I do, though, that we're all busy. And we all could use a gentle r'minder.

Plum Crazy

2008-12-15T13:03:00.000-06:00

The other day as my aunt and cousin were getting ready to leave my house my aunt asked if I had ever read a Janet Evanovich book. As she held Foul Play out to me I said, "Oh that reminds me - the other day I got an email from Janet Evanovich's 'blog monkey' declaring me to be one of their favorite blogs." It was at that point my Aunt Janet's jaw hit the ground and my Cousin Courtney jumped from her car. Aunt Janet nearly screamed, "YOU GOT AN EMAIL FROM JANET EVANOVICH???" I clarified: "No. Her blog monkey."

I hear blog monkeys can be very flattering - this one had me at "one of our favorites."

After much fast talking from them both I took the book so I could partake of the reading wonderful-ness they were both gushing about rather excitedly in my front yard. I'm halfway through Twilight right now, but with all the snow days we're forecasted to get this week I figure I'll start Foul Play tonight. And no, up to this point in my life, I have never read a Janet Evanovich book, even though my friend Trishia has been trying to get me to for years. I know. I should probably be flogged or something.

The newest book in the Stephanie Plum series coming out January 6th is Plum Spooky. While you wait for January 6th, have a gander at this Preview of a New and Exciting Book/Holiday Greeting YouTube from Ms. Evanovich herself. (Or maybe her blog monkey. Or blog rhinocerous since the blog monkey takes care of emailing. Just a thought.)

And the winners are.....

2008-12-05T10:39:00.000-06:00

I apologize for not posting the winners last night. I'll be real honest with ya when I say that I was literally asleep here on the couch, laptop on my lap, chin on my chest, by 8:30. Yeah, I'm that much of a party animal.

So without further ado, the winners - picked by Random Number Generator - of the Norton PC Tune-ups are:

1. Lori
2. "Aunt Janet"
3. Wanda

Congrats ladies! Stop back by the comments section to see what they have to say about their tune-ups!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The winners for the Clorox2 coupons - also picked by Randon Number Generator - are:

1. Tiff
2. Nancy
3. Courtney

I don't have blog links or emails for these winners of soon-to-be happy laundry, so Tiff, Nancy and Courtney, email me your address and I'll send them your way!

Dare to be Colorful!

2008-12-02T21:51:00.000-06:00

I have three kids, therefore I have laundry. Lots and lots of laundry. And because most of that laundry is generated by children I have dirty laundry. All three of my kids were spitters when they were babies, but when Abby was a baby my mom found me one day crying over her pretty pink bibs and how stained they were. She promptly went to Walmart and brought me my first box of Clorox2 and folks, my laundry hasn't been the same since. There are a lot of things I buy store brand, but when it comes to my laundry it's Clorox all the way. There is simply no substitute to make your laundry the happiest it can be.

I put a cap of Clorox2 in all of my light-colored loads, the dark ones if they're really dirty, and in my towels where I can't use regular bleach. I've literally been a user of Clorox2 for 12 years, so when MomCentral announced a blog tour and free coupons for it I nearly broke my toe on my washing machine trying to get in on it. Clorox2 has a new formula that is not only a non-chlorine bleach but also a color booster. Basically that means YAY! Happy laundry for everyone!

Tough stains? Ones that slipped by you in the wash and you don't dare dry them and set in the stain? No problem - soak the stain in Clorox2, then re-wash and voila! Again with the happy laundry! This is a product that I could go on and on even if MomCentral hadn't given me a coupon for a free bottle AND coupons for four of my readers. Yep, COUPONS! The economy's takin' a dive, but people, we're all gonna have awesomely happy laundry - four of you are gonna have that happy laundry for FREE!

Leave a comment telling me the worst stain you've ever had to get out of your laundry and you're automaticaly entered to win a coupon of your very own. Giveaway is open until this Friday. Tell your friends!

Big thanks to MomCentral!

A Review and the Giveaway

2008-11-26T19:04:00.000-06:00

Once again MomCentral has made a product available for reviewers to check out and tell the universe what they think. Even though my laptop is only a year and a half old, I jumped on the opportunity to be a part of the Norton PC Tune-up blog tour because hey, we all want our computers to run even better, right? At least, I don't think it's just a geeky thing that only I get excited about....

Today we had absolutely nothing going on around the house (except for some serious Laser Tag between my son and husband) so I grabbed the phone and called the toll-free number. I was immediately connected with Peter who was obviously Canadian and every single time he said "aboot" instead of "about" I giggled with glee. The info included with the promo code said the service takes about 30 minutes. Whether it was due to my slow internet connection or El Nino or the fact that Venus is in retrograde, the whole conversation, start to finish, took just right under 55 minutes. Not that it bothered me (Frankly, I was enjoying everything aboot it) but I'm just saying it did take a bit longer than I anticipated.

He took remote control of my computer, but didn't warn me before he did it. I knew he was going to because I had read a few other blog tour particpant reviews, so I was expecting it, but to someone completely clueless that might a little disconcerting. While he was zooming my cursor all over the place he proceded to show me the inner workings of my blessed laptop. I have geeky aspirations, so any time I get to see someone tweak around on a computer I nearly get light-headed. (My dad and brother run and hide when they see me coming because they know I'm going to ask them if I can sit at their knee and watch them work.) Peter the Canadian showed me the unnecessary files that were bogging down my computer, showed me how to create a new recovery point, suggested I add some RAM sometime soon, explained why he was doing everything and making sure I was okay with it before he did it. He was just generally professional, humorous and courteous. I think the $69.99 price is a little steep for the service, even though I think it truly is a neat service. However, he explained everything he did so well I can now do it on my own as I need to in the future. That's worth a lot, but I'm not sure it's worth $70.

That all being said, because MomCentral is so gracious and giving right here at the holidays, three of you are going to get to try out the Norton PC Tune-up service FOR FREE! Free is always a good thing, right?

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment here, telling me what kind of computer you have. Easy as pie, right? (Actually, I find making pies time-consuming and messy, but that's just me...)

If you shout me out on your blog, linking to the link here on my review site, I'll give you another entry - just leave the link in the comments so I can check it out. (Jesus knows if you're lying and so will I.)

The contest is open until Wednesday, December 3rd at 7ish PM.

Gimme a boost, wouldja?

2008-11-23T10:53:00.000-06:00

I have two kids still in booster seats, so when MomCentral announced a blog tour for a device that makes boosters not so wobbly and unstable, I nearly broke my "reply" button trying to get included in the tour. I was tickled beyond belief when they announced that everyone who responded got to be a part!

Enter SeatSnug.

If you have kids in boosters you know how they seem to sliiiiiiide toward the front edge of the car's seat or how they somehow always manage to be off-kilter. We drive a Dodge Caravan with bucket seats in the middle row and oh, how those bucket seats hate my kids' boosters. There are honestly some days I wonder if them just sitting in the seat would be safer. Check out the SeatSnug website and watch the video of the test done at parking lot speed and ... oh heck, you probably see that every day in your rearview mirror if you've got a child in a booster seat. I know a booster puts them up where they need to be, but it doesn't keep them there very well at all.

Before I go further I need to say that installation was very easy. I put it on while standing on my driveway in my pj's and sock monkey slippers in 40 degree November weather and it only took about 5 minutes. My fingers weren't even numb by the time I finished. (In Oklahoma that is a feat sometimes.)

Kady's booster so longer slips, slides and aways; it stays exactly where I want it to stay - right under her hiney. No tipping, no wobbling, no more me having a panic attack when I look in the rearview and see her seatbelt across her neck because her booster has slid out from under her. It's also easy to turn off when you have a non-booster-using person in that seat. A simple push of the tab either way, to turn it off or on, and it's done.

A big thank you to the makers of SeatSnug for giving parents a product to keep our kids safer and big thanks to MomCentral for making it available to review. Be sure to check out both websites!

Barbie, sparkles and snugglin' with my kids

2008-11-07T20:10:00.000-06:00

With the excitement of Halloween and various other things that get in the way - namely LIFE - the kids and I just had the opportunity to sit down tonight and snuggle up to watch our newest DVD, Barbie and the Diamond Castle. MomCentral gave me the opportunity to watch and review the movie and let me tell ya, Kady has been in near fits since the day we got it in the mail (you know I've mentioned doing crazy, joyous dances when the UPS man brings me my happy boxes - Kady is as excitable as her momma, obviously).

Barbie and the Diamond Castle is the latest in the ultra-cool, amazing CGI-animated, let a little girl's imagination go wild videos. Now, Abby is 12 and SO above watching a Barbie video, but Kady is the prime age for Barbie-watching. From the minute it started, that baby was glued to the set and when she'd catch me checking email or answering a text on my phone she'd whisper "Momma! You've got to LOOK! At the TV!" Toward the end, when the two heroines find the diamond castle their dresses turn into fancy, sparkly gowns I'm telling you, the child literally gasped.

The story is about two best friends, Liana and Alexa (played by Barbie and Teresa) who don't have much in the way of posessions or money, but their friendship is more than enough to see them through. Because of her kindness to a stranger, Liana comes to own an enchanted mirror which is actually the unfortunate home to a displaced muse, Melody. Of course, there's plenty of adventure as they search for the Diamond Castle and a way to release Melody. Lydia is a perfect villainness, along with her bumbling-but-eager flying serpent, Slyder. And along the way the girls meet up with a set of guy twins ( when they were transformed into their sparkly outfits at the end, Kady looked at me and said, "Hubba hubba!") and a pair of cute puppies that also get sparkly at the end of the movie. Sparkly is always good at this house.

I actually enjoyed watching this one, whereas some of the earlier Barbie movies have been a little hard to watch for me. Kady loves them all, of course, but she seemed to be way more engaged in this one. Sam also watched it with us ("Because I, ya know, want to give you a man's perspective, Mom") and he laughed when it was funny and declared it to be "not as yucky as some of Kady's DVDs" so I think all in all, Barbie and the Diamond Castle gets six thumbs up from the Diva family!

Christmas is coming - if you've got a Barbie fan in your family I think this one is a winner. Check out the official Barbie and the Diamond Castle website.

And don't forget to check out MomCentral!

Sniffle Sniffle Sneeze: A Review

2008-10-24T14:44:00.002-05:00

The awesome folks at MomCentral offered up a blog tour awhile back for Clorox Anywhere Anti-Allergen Fabric Spray and let me tell ya, I jumped on it. Sam is a constant sniffler and Kady has asthma. Both are on daily medication for their allergies and as a teen, I took allergy shots. Yeah, we're just a big ol' allergic, snotty family.

The day I got my bottle in the mail, after I finished doing a happy dance (as I always do when I'm chosen for a blog tour and I get goodies in the mail) I took off on a fit of spraying throughout my entire house. I sprayed beds, stuffed animals, carpets, furniture and if Paul would've held still long enough I'd have sprayed him, too. It smells great and what's better - Sam's not sniffling as much!

Here's how it works: The formula works by changing the structure of allergen proteins, rendering them inactive. Seriously? I don't know how much more awesome this stuff can get. Well, if it produced money every time I sprayed it and magically removed the dust from the ceiling fans AND kept my kids from fighting it would obviously be more awesome, but well, ya know...the folks at Clorox are wonderful, but not magicians.

Clorox Anywhere Anti-Allergen Fabric Spray neutralizes up to 90% of allergens (dust mite matter and pet dander) on fabrics. While we don't have any pets in our house we have LOADS of dust and I'm sure, dust mites. Iew. Why do I feel like I need a shower now?

Check out Clorox Anywhere Anti-Allergen Fabric Spray if you're a family of snotty snifflers!

And also check out MomCentral!

Snacktivate!

2008-07-17T19:00:00.003-05:00

Recently I signed up with MomCentral, although I don't normally jump on the mom-group bandwagons. I don't know, maybe it's that whole "doesn't play well with others" thing I have goin' on, I don't know. But people, I LOVE this place!I signed up at the website and within an hour I received a personal email from one of the gals there, welcoming me to the group. It was not a form letter, it was not a blanket "thanks, nameless, anonymous person for signing up" email, it was an email from someone who had already visited my blog and had actually read a few posts. They totally had me at hello.

So along with being a member of MomCentral, you can sign up to do BlogTours for them. I don't spend my entire day online (although my husband would probably argue that one) so I don't get some of the invitations as soon as they come in and I miss quite a few, but I did manage to get invited to do the Snacktivate! BlogTour from Kellogg's. You know, the cereal people. Big tiger? Three little dudes that make your cereal talk? Yeah, that Kellogg's.

Monday the mailman (He's an actual man who carries the mail so I feel confident in calling him that, rather than "letter carrier". He seems like the kind of guy who would take offense to that term.) delivered a ton of boxes to our house. Two were from Ab's first online shopping adventure (more in another post) but the biggest one was from KELLOGG'S!It was a veritable hurricane of brown box and paper packing while we (meaning me) went berzerk getting to the goodies inside the box from the Kellogg's Company: Two - Two! - boxes of Frosted Mini-Wheats and a cool snack cup for cereal and milk on the go. There was also a recipe for Sassy Sunpops, which we promptly made. Well, without the sticks to make them into actual "pops" and flax seed because I didn't have any in the house. Okay, so basically we just made the "Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies." Anyway, let me just say YUM. And with Sam's recent tummy troubles, this family can use all the help it can get with adding fiber to our diet.But the Snacktivate! website is what I'm really here to talk about.

Abby and I have spent several days looking over this site, clicking on links and seeing what we could learn and what other recipes we could find. I clicked all the way through to see how Kellogg's is involved in schools and how they do their part in making sure school lunch programs are healthier. Since my kids eat two meals at school, five days a week, nine months out of the year, that is a good thing. I also learned that Kellogg's PopTarts are better for you than breakfast pizza or even scrambled eggs. Who knew? See, Mom? I really AM doing a good job! Something else? Nearly 25% of our daily calories come from snacking, so it's kind of more important than throwing a couple of cookies and some kool-ade at your kid when they come in from playing. Abby printed out about 37,000 recipes (Okay, she printed five...) for us to try, so if it caught an 11 year old's attention it can't be bad!

Check out the Kellogg's Snacktivate! website and see what they're all about.

Make sure you check out MomCentral, too!