Lol  It’s true. These little ones running around? Tax deductions! How cool is that? LOL  TurboTax, my most favorite tax preparation software, is celebrating those little tax deductions – specifically those last minute ones (those born December 1-31, 2008) by hosting America’s Cutest Last-Minute Tax Deduction contest!  All you have to do to enter your little tax deduction is log on and upload a photo of your baby that’s born between (yesterday) and New Year’s Eve.  Then you beg/ask/implore people to vote for your cutest baby!  I know – another photo contest.

But this one’s way better.

The winner of THIS photo contest wins a $5,000 United States Savings Bond!

Check out last year’s winner:

Isn’t he adorable!  So, all you pregnant mamas – get to poppin that kid out before December 31st – get the photo uploaded by January 9th.

Also, I have a great giveaway for you!  I have TWO of these adorable onesies that Baby Owen is wearing to give away.  They’re sized 6 months, and if you’d like to win 1 of them, please just leave a comment

As always, if you would like an extra entry, blog about my giveaway.

Another entry?  Post my button on your blog.

ANOTHER entry? Subscribe to my feed

Just leave a comment indicating each way you’re entering.

I’m easy like that

I will draw a random winner from all qualified entries next Friday, December 12th!

As soon as I received it, I sprayed it on Anthony’s mattress after I’d stripped the sheets. He’s always having problems with allergies if anyone’s been in there jumping on his bed, because the mattress is ollllld.  After I sprayed it, I let it dry and put the sheets back on before bed.  He hasn’t had a sneezy problem since.

After I saw the difference it had made in his room, I went around the house spraying the couch and curtains – things that I don’t typically vacuum.  It’s made such a big difference!  My 2nd favorite part? It is fragrance free!  I’m VERY sensitive to stinky stuff so the fact that it’s NOT stinky (or perfumed or whatever) is great for me AND my kids.  Yay!

Thankfully, he recovered and just celebrated his 5th birthday.  Unfortunately, others aren’t so lucky.

According to stopmrsanow.org,  MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a type of Staph bacteria found on the skin and in the nose that is resistant to antibiotics. More than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly MRSA infections every year and in 2005, nearly 19,000 Americans died from MRSA infections. More deaths are linked to MRSA infections than AIDS.
There are two known types of MRSA. You may have heard of Healthcare-Associated (HA-MRSA), which occurs in hospitals and nursing homes, but a newer type of MRSA is Community-Associated (CA-MRSA), which has recently begun to spread in public settings like gyms, locker rooms, households and schools.

Mom Central has asked us to help get the word out to help prevent MRSA.  The following tips will help you keep yourself and your family safe from such a potentially deadly infection.

  Scrub up – Wash hands frequently with soap and warm water for at least 15 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand rub sanitizer. 

  
   Wipe it down – Use a disinfecting bleach solution to wipe down and disinfect hard surfaces. (1 tablespoon of disinfecting bleach diluted in 1 quart of water)

  Cover your cuts – Keep any nicks or wounds covered with a clean, dry bandage until healed.  

  Keep to yourself – Do not share personal items, like towels or razors, that  come into contact with bare skin.

Use a barrier – Keep a towel or clothing between skin and shared equipment.

It’s really not that hard.  It’s basic.  It’s necessary.  Realizing now that I went to the hospital the other day for my mammogram with my hand where I’d jammed it into the asphalt still unhealed, I left myself open for much more than painful breasts. 

Qlubb.com is a website where you can create your own “club” – and invite whomever you want to be included in it.  I have created my own Qlubb for my family in RI.

I invited my mom, my brothers, sis in law, sister.  Now we all have access to our own qlubb.  Our’s is closed to the public, so no one else can see our messages, photos, etc. It’s just for OUR family.  We can send messages to each other, post photos, events, any important dates.  For example, I’ve added all the birthdays for the rest of the year.  Tommy, my brother, added the new show he’ll be in next month.  I’ve included my trip to Boston next month.  It’s just a great way to keep up with everyone else.

It’s also great for organizing all those school activities that happen for everyone.  Soccer games, teacher meetings, PTA meetings (Do they still have PTA?), even those lovely school fund raisers. I just love how everything is centralized. It’s perfect for keeping track of everyone.

Check it out!

Quote of the Day:
If at first you don’t succeed… make sure nobody finds out you tried!
–Unknown

For so many people around the world, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey represent not only a night out, but the continuation of a family tradition.  They’re taking their kids to the circus! Their parents took them to the circus. Their parents took them to the circus – and on it goes.  Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is celebrating their 137th year!  That’s a lot of family tradition.

Personally, I think that circus is a misnomer.  It’s not just about lions & tigers & bears (oh my!)  It’s more like a trip to Vegas nowadays!  With so many different, incredible and exciting acts, I can only imagine that it rivals a trip to all those shows out there in Vegas.  

Did you know that the circus is coming to town?  Even better, I have a special code for you, my lovely readers, to get 20% off your tickets if you live in the following locations! 

The 20% discount code for Ringling Bros. Circus. Code: MCC

*The code is valid for the circus shows in the following cities:

• Indianapolis, IN – Sept. 4-7, 2008
• Kansas City, MO – Sept. 10-14, 2008
• Grand Rapids, MI – Sept. 18-21, 2008
• Denver, CO – Oct. 2-13, 2008
• Boston, MA – Oct. 8-13, 2008
• Cleveland, OH – Oct. 24 – Nov. 2
• Chicago, IL – Nov. 6 – 30, 2008
• St. Louis, MO – Nov. 6-9, 2008
• Auburn Hills, MI – Nov. 12 – 16, 2008
• Highland Heights, KY – Feb 27 – Mar. 1, 2009
• Cincinnati, OH – Mar. 4 – 8, 2008

I can’t TELL you how badly I wish we could take our kids when the circus comes to town in Boston.  I haven’t quite given up the idea yet – though that’s the same weekend as BlogHer Reach Out tour. In BOSTON.

My thanks to MomCentral for the opportunity to ‘visit’ the circus again, if only for a  little while!

Quote of the Day:
There is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood by those who hear it.
–William James

Libby’s Libby’s Libby’s
on the label label label
you will like it like it like it
on your table table table.

We’ve always had that jingle in the background whenever dinner rolls around. Libby’s vegetables were always a staple at our house growing up. My brother & I used to sing the song whenever we saw the can.  After I had Libby, it became HER song.

As a mom, though, more than a song is important to me when I’m feeding my family. That’s probably the best part about canned vegetables. When you rely on a brand like Libby’s, you KNOW what to expect – you KNOW they’ll be fresh, you KNOW it’s quality. I’ve never had a problem feeding my family canned vegetables, simply because I know that they’ll taste great and be good for them.

Thanks to Mom Central, though, now I know about Libby’s "Get Back to the Table" month. This I hadn’t heard about.  With the kids back to school, and all the associated activities that comes with it, Libby’s wants to encourage us to get back to the table together for our meals.  In our house, we eat every dinner together.  The only exception is when Jimmy has to work late, and even then, I’ll hold it off until the kids get annoying.   We eat together every single night. We catch up on the day, share with Jimmy what the kids have done that day.  Anthony will tell his dad what he’s learned that day – and now with Libby starting schooling, she does the same thing.  It’s just a great way to wind down together after the day.

According to Libby’s site, too, when families eat their meals together, your kids benefit SO much!  Studies show that kids who eat dinner with their families five or more times a week are more likely to have higher grades in school.  They also find that kids who eat with their families have an easier time saying no to drugs.  It also encourages them to eat BETTER. What’s better than healthier, smarter, more confident kids!?

In our house, canned vegetables are a big part of our meals.  I use them as a side dish, of course, but also in the main meals themselves.  I routinely will throw veggies into their mac & cheese for lunch.  We found out, accidentally, that when you combine a can of nice, fresh corn with a can of diced tomatoes and refridgerate it – OMG good!  Libby’s has TONS of recipes on their site to help you make healthy, YUMMY meals for your family.  In fact, I’m making one of them tonight!

Go check out Libby’s site – get your family back to the table – and enjoy the numerous benefits!  (Oh yeah, and coupons too!)

libby’s, get back to the table, product reviews, mom central

Seriously, I never thought I’d hear my son say that.  Particularly since he’s so competitive, for him to hear that there are no “Winners” – I figured he’d bow out half way through.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Hasbro has released a new line of games aimed at reminding and reinforcing some of those things that we WISH our kids would do.  Skills like LISTENING, SHARING, and COOPERATION!  I know that those skills are things my 5 year old needs more than a little bit of practice in.  Actually, so could the 11 year old! (and the 41 yr old).

When my kids first found out that we had received A.NEW.GAME.mom!, they were so excited!   We received The Pizza Palace Game by Hasbro in the morning’s mail.  I managed to get them to hold off on it for a little while, and after lunch, we set the game up. The instructions weren’t quite clear but we figured it out pretty quickly and played.  It was so much fun!  I would go through my deck of potential pizza toppings, select 3 and then I would give them my “order” – telling them and showing them what I wanted on my pizza.  Then I’d have to turn the cards over and they’d have to remember what I said and then make their pizzas to my order.  As they got used to that, we made it a little more difficult, with more silly toppings (anybody want a slice of ham, pineapple & stinky sock pizza?).  It was so much fun and it encouraged them to actually LISTEN – something that, yeah – ALL kids can use some practice in that!

Along with the game, Noodleboro also includes a really cute story book and a music CD in the game.  After we’d played a few games, I asked my kids to take the cd and book into their rooms and check them out, to let me know what they thought of them for this review.  My son hemmed and hawed and complained.  He wanted to play the gaaaaaaaaame.  Finally, I won he relented and within minutes, I could hear them laughing through the closed door.  The music cd that comes with the Pizza Palace game is loaded with fun, FUNNY and COOL songs on “Noodleboro’s All-Kid Radio” that also reinforce the idea of listening.  They just LOVED it and now I hear them singing the songs from the cd around the house. 

Oh, and also? They found the coupons that came in the box and now they want the OTHER Noodleboro Games! I guess I know what will be on their Dear Santa lists this year!

• The Fun Park Game mirrors every family outing you have ever taken – your child must cooperate and work with you to make decisions about what to do next. Sharing and teamwork becomes creative and exciting as well as applicable to your family’s every day life.
• The Picnic Basket Game reinforces manners, which prove effective to chase away ants and make the picnic run smoothly. From passing the lemonade to sharing the sandwiches, there’s no room for acting crabby and grabby.

Would you like an opportunity to win a Noodleboro game? 

 MomCentral is raffling off 200! games to moms who sign up with this link.   But if you’re not one of those 200, put Noodleboro games on your shopping list anyway.  Just to have a game where your kids cooperate? TOTALLY worth it! Of course, it has NOTHING to do with the fact that Hasbro is located in my home state of RI, either   But seriously, Hasbro is committed to keeping our kids safe, so I think it’s very important to support

My thanks to MomCentral for providing us this great opportunity to play & review Hasbro’s  Noodleboro game, Pizza Palace.

When you walk into a GameStop store, you don’t feel like a fish out of water.  No matter what game system you are shopping for, everything is easily identified throughout the store.  As a bargain shopper, another great thing about GameStop is that they sell “pre-played” games as well, which really helps when you have a kid who likes lots of different things, or has multiple game systems.  As well, GameStop also offers a large selection of PC games as well.  Since I mostly play games on my PC, that works out great for me

Did you know GameStop also sells a wide variety of game systems and equipment? We’ve picked up extra controllers, extra memory cards, power packs – and it’s much more affordable than you’d imagine!  As well, you can trade in your gently used games and equipment for store credit towards other things.

GameStop also has a great website, laid out just as well as the store.  It’s easy to find what you’re looking for, or if you don’t know what you’re looking for, it’s simple to browse and sort games based on game system or even by their rating system.  I personally appreciate that because I don’t allow my kids to play games that are not rated for their age/maturity level.

So, the next time you’re in the market for a new or gently used game or game equipment, GameStop should be your first stop.

It’s funny because as I was driving home last night, I spotted the sign for a new GameStop in town and I got so excited because we LOVE GameStop and currently, we have to drive HOURS to get to the nearest one.  I even called home to tell Jimmy, because I was so excited LOL  With the holidays not too far away [153 days, people!], this is really great news for Santa, too!

To help raise awareness for this valuable program, Kimberly-Clark presents Rock Your School Sweepstakes that gives parents a chance to win 100,000 Bonus Box Tops plus a Concert With Radio Disney Star Jordan Pruitt.  How cool would that make you!?

According to their press release:

Bonus Box Tops go a long way. Here is what 100,000 of them could mean to the average classroom:

• Technology Upgrades: A mobile cart complete with 20 laptops with wireless capabilities to allow travel from classroom to classroom.
• The Necessities: Enough No. 2 pencils that, laid pencil to eraser, would stretch across the length of more than 145 football fields.
• Hands-on Learning Outside the Classroom: A class trip for 20 students in Los Angeles, Calif. to visit Washington, D.C., including airfare, hotel accommodations and admission to the Smithsonian Institution.

That’s  a lot of box tops!  In addition to the bonus box tops, your child’s school will also be treated to a concert from 16 yr old singing star Jordan Pruitt!.  How exciting!

What do you need to do to enter?  Well, that’s the easy part!  Just head over to http://rockbacktoschool.com – enter your email & sign up!

Are you a home schooling family that’s involved with a home school group with more than 15 kids?  Your group can also participate in the Box Tops for Education program as well!  Ours does!

Have I mentioned how much I am loving the ladies over at MomCentral?  This week, I’m rocking a brand new Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber.  I know – you’re so totally jealous right now, you’re green.  GREEN, I tell ya.

Seriously, though – cleaning the bathroom is such a pain for so many people, me included.  We have hard water – so my tile is a mess –the bottom of my shower curtains are a mess.  Oh, and have I mentioned I have kids? Yeah, they leave an even bigger mess.  So I signed on for the Scrubbing Bubbles thing and there it was in my mailbox this weekend.  Sad when you get excited about cleaning products, isn’t it? LOL

Today, I ventured into the bathroom that hasn’t been cleaned in 99 years, armed with my Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber.  The SB Action Scrubber is actually a 2 piece tool.  There’s a nicely formed foam grip with velcro-type strips on it.  It attaches to the disposable cleaning pads that come packed with the concentrated Scrubbing Bubbles formula.  You just wet it and go.  I didn’t even have to put any elbow grease into it, and I cleaned the whole tub, corners and all, as well as the faucet and tub spout that always get so nasty from the water and soap.  They literally sparkled!  I also used it to wipe down the bottom of the shower liner & curtain and it worked! They look great!

Next, I tackled the sink, which was done in seconds.  Again, it sparkles!  [I’ll tell you a secret – later? I’m using that same pad again to clean the toilet seat, rim, etc.! Then toss it and I’m done. Woohoo!]

Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber really made easy work out of a not-so-fun job.   To make matters even better, though, they have COUPONS (for $2.75!!) on their website, along with a great tips & tricks for cleaning all those not-so-fun areas of your bathroom.

You can pick up your own Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubber wherever the SC Johnson brand is sold.