Preparing For a Major Milestone

We spent our first wedding anniversary at a Baltimore Ravens game...

On our second anniversary, we watched cops chase a car thief through
our backyard (that's a story for another day)...

Sooo... our tenth anniversary is happening this year.

Guess what we're planning on doing? Anyone?

Find out and enter to win a gift pack worth $100 HERE!

I've Been Living Under a Rock

So... I'm just going to admit it:

I had never tried cooking with panko breadcrumbs before. Crazy, huh?

But I have now! And I loved them! I'm giving some away, too. Along with an autographed cookbook. Nice, eh?

Hurry, though! This giveaway is only running for two days.

Go right here to enter.

A Little Help From Lawry's...

I have an awesome giveaway going on right over here. Go. Now. Check it out! :)

School's Out- What's There to Eat, Mom?

It's back to school season! And that means after school snacks for a lot of homes. Want a chance to win some school supplies, coupons for free snacks, AND some money for your school? Hop over to my other blog for a fun giveaway!!

Mimi's Babies Giveaway Winner

... and the winner is....

Alyssa! Congratulations!

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:8Powered by RANDOM.OR

Decorating My Baby's Head

That's my baby. Big blue eyes and a flower on her head. That precious girl has had something decorating her head pretty much since birth. I can't help it. The NICU nurses used to glue tiny bows on my first daughter's head and now I've taken it upon myself to make sure a bow or flower always graces my second little girl's head.

This particular flower headband? It was made by Mimi's Babies and it is a.dor.a.ble. Seriously. The sweetness is overwhelming. We love it! I love the freshness of the lime green and turquoise together... don't get me wrong, I like pink and lavender as much as the next girl, but these colors are a fun change! They also make those peepers pop!

Do you have little girl of your own whose head could use some adorning? Or perhaps you know a special little someone who would enjoy a precious flower headband? Well, then, you've come to the right place! In honor of my baby girl turning one this Saturday (*sniff, sniff*), Mimi's Babies sent me a headband for Baby G. And you can win one too! (By the way... it needn't be a baby whose head you want to adorn... these headbands stretch to fit an adult head! I don't look as cute as G. in these things but, hey, whatever works for you...)

To enter:

1. Visit Mimi's Babies and check out their flower headbands, then come back and tell me which colors you would choose! (Required)
2. Follow Mimi's Babies on Twitter and leave a comment letting me know. (<-- Far and away, one of my fave peeps to chat with on Twitter!)
3. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment that you did so.

Good luck! This giveaway will end the evening of Wednesday, June 16th.

This post is linked to Things I Love Thursday.

Green Giant Prize Pack Winner!

And the winner of the Green Giant Prize Pack is...

#25, Keli!

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:25Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Keli writes:

We have our own garden, we recycle, and compost. We try to be engery efficent and water wise too. I love to read about new ways to help us go green. :)

Sounds like some great ways of reducing your carbon footprint, Keli! Thanks to all of you for your great comments in the entries.

Lightning Fast Yoplait Smoothie Giveaway!

Please head over to my other site, Parenting The Tiniest Of Miracles Reviews, to see what all I'm giving away today. It's only going to last for 24 hours, so please hurry!

If I can get my act together, I hope to get a micropreemie post up later today. Come back soon!

Giving Away a BJ's Giftcard!

How far can I stretch $25 at a warehouse club? How far could you? Want a chance to find out? Head on over here!

Nature Valley Granola Nut Cluster Prize Pack Giveaway

You all know how much I love my granola, don't you? I make and eat ridiculous quantities of my Chocolate Almond Granola.

When I'm in the car though? Granola is NOT a handy "breakfast on the go..." Go here to see about my new fave on-the-road food and enter to receive a prize pack of your very own...

Wanchai Ferry Winner

I've announced the winner of the Wanchai Ferry giveaway over here. Go check it out!

Mmmm... A Yummy Giveaway

I have to admit it... I'm a big fan of this convenience food. Hop over here and win some for yourself!

Win a $10 Stop & Shop Gift Card!

Hop on over here and leave me a quick comment to be entered to save $10 on your groceries. While you're there, check out how much I carted home for 80 cents...

Attention Toni :O) !!

Here's a call out to Toni, who correctly predicted a SMALL baby for me in my Baby Guessing Contest. Congrats! Toni guessed 6 lb 6 oz and little G weighed in at 5 lb 8 1/2 oz.

Unfortunately, Toni, your name isn't clickable so I haven't been able to contact you yet. If you could leave a comment here or send me a quick email, I'd much appreciate it. That way I can get your gas card sent out to you!

Thanks!

Baby Guessing Contest!

Less than a week and our baby will be here! Doesn't that seem incredible?? Or is it just me? :)

In honor of such a wonderful occasion (and the fact that this one made it full-term!), I thought it would be fun to have a little contest...

Here's all I need from you--

Leave a comment with your guess as to how much this baby will weigh. (For fun, put your gender prediction in there too, but you won't be judged on that!) Please do not duplicate a previous commentor's guess. Whoever ends up closest to baby's actual weight will win a $10 Speedway gift card! If your town's prices are like mine, they've been headed UP lately. Any little bit can help!

To give you all the best opportunity for an accurate guess, here's some additional info:

• I will technically be 37 weeks 1 day pregnant when this baby is delivered.
• I've measured about a week ahead for most of the pregnancy.
• My first baby weighed 8 lb 0 oz and was born at 41 weeks.
• My second baby weighed 1 lb 5 oz and was born at 24 weeks.
• I carried small with each of my pregnancies, though my babies were good sizes (even the 1 lb 5 oz baby was a pretty good size for her gestational age!)
  
• I've gained 23 lb (as of yesterday... although I DID walk around a zoo for over four hours today so I may be a tad lighter now! ;))
  
• You can see what I look like, as of five minutes ago, in the above pic!

Good luck! I can't tell you how much I look forward to the guesses. I'll let you know my guess and my hubby's guess as the day gets closer...

Final Yoplait Prize Pack Winner

Congrats goes out to MH in OH for being our final winner! Asked where she likes to "get active" with her kids, MH writes:

"Our yard! It's why we have 4 acres. But we also enjoy stopping at different parks when we are out running errands."

Enjoy trying out some fun new activities on those four acres, MH!

Here are your random numbers:

10

Timestamp: 2009-05-20 12:58:55 UTC

Fun in the Sun With Yoplait!

The sun is shining here in Indiana and the weather is just about perfect. What a great opportunity to get out there and play with the kids!

I've already been fortunate enough to give away two fantastic Yoplait Get Active Prize Packs. And there's still one more up for grabs! This will be the final Yoplait Prize Pack that I give away, but there's more fun stuff to come...

My kids (and I!) absolutely adore yogurt and I love the convenience and health benefits of it. It appears somewhere on their menu at least five days a week. And that's great news! Because you know what? Research has shown that fewer than half of all kids ages two to 12 get the calcium they need each day. And calcium and Vitamin D are both essential nutrients for building strong bones. Yogurt is a great source of both nutrients!

So I was thrilled to receive a coupon* for a free 6-pack of any of the Yoplait for Kids yogurt products (Go-Gurt, Trix, Yoplait Kids). These yogurts are available in a wide variety of flavors and none of them have any "chunks"- handy, since many kids are opposed to chunks in their yogurt! My kids' latest favorite? Strawberry-Vanilla.



Along with the yogurt coupon, we received a Yoplait Get Active Prize Pack. Perfect for a fun-filled day for active children, it includes:

• A travel cooler (to take the yogurt on the road!)
• A jump rope.
• A water bottle.
• An outdoor game set that includes a beach ball, paddle ball, Jai-Ali, and a Frisbee

And it's all neatly packaged in a drawstring net bag. Can I tell you how much I appreciate that fact? Much less clutter sitting next to my door!

There's nothing like new outdoor toys to help get you busy and moving out there. It had been awhile since I'd had the opportunity to show off my mad Frisbee skills... not that my skills are all that impressive at this stage of pregnancy but, still, it's fun to get out there!

We've already had a ton of fun enjoying our prize pack and, just this past week, we put our new cooler to use as we headed halfway across the country. How handy!

If you'd like to join me in getting active with our kiddos and you'd like some fun new things to help make it easier, simply leave a comment answering the following question:

Where is your favorite place to "get active" with your kids? Your yard? The park? The beach? A pool? Let me know!

I'm a real water-girl myself but, since I'm awfully land-locked here in Indiana, I enjoy checking out new parks and nature trails too!

This giveaway will remain open until Sunday evening, May 17th. The winner will be announced Monday morning. Good luck!


(*Important: This coupon offer for a free six pack of Yoplait for Kids yogurt is not valid in some states, including Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota and Tennessee.)

Yoplait Get Active Prize Pack Winner #2

Congratulations to Stacy, our second winner!

Here are your random numbers:

19

Timestamp: 2009-04-29 12:23:08 UTC

Asked what kind of snack helps keep her active kiddos fueled, Stacy answered:

"Crackers and apple slices are easy to pack up and so portable."

You can toss those apple slices (and your free yogurt!) in your new little cooler if you'd like, Stacy!

Thanks so much to all of you who entered. If you didn't win this time, we still have one more prize pack to give away. That post will be up soon... keep a look out!

Time to "Get Active" Again With Yoplait Kids!

We saw flurries a couple days ago and the heat has been running... hard to think of playing outside with that going on!

But the weatherman promises... we should see the 80's this weekend. So we're looking forward to getting back outside with our Yoplait Get Active Prize Pack from My BlogSpark.

My kids absolutely adore yogurt and I love the convenience and health benefits of it. It appears somewhere on their menu at least five days a week. And that's great news! Because you know what? Research has shown that fewer than half of all kids ages two to 12 get the calcium they need each day. And calcium and Vitamin D are both essential nutrients for building strong bones. Yogurt is a great source of both nutrients!

So I was thrilled to receive a coupon* for a free 6-pack of any of the Yoplait for Kids yogurt products (Go-Gurt, Trix, Yoplait Kids). These yogurts are available in a wide variety of flavors and none of them have any "chunks"- handy, since many kids are opposed to chunks in their yogurt! My two preschoolers like all the flavors of Yoplait Kids... seems that while they appeal to tons of others, the bright colors of the Trix yogurt turn my kids off. (I should also note that my kids refuse to eat applesauce that is any color other than "apple colored"!)



Along with the yogurt coupon, we received a Yoplait Get Active Prize Pack. Perfect for a fun-filled day for active children, it includes:

• A travel cooler (to take the yogurt on the road!)
• A jump rope.
• A water bottle.
• An outdoor game set that includes a beach ball, paddle ball, Jai-Ali, and a Frisbee

And it's all neatly packaged in a drawstring net bag. Can I tell you how much I appreciate that fact? Much less clutter sitting next to my door!

There's nothing like new outdoor toys to help get you busy and moving out there. It had been awhile since I'd had the opportunity to show off my mad Frisbee skills...

Since I truly feel strongly about the importance of good nutrition and staying active for our kids, I am absolutely delighted to be able to offer two more of these prize packs (each including a coupon* for a free 6-pack of yogurt) to my readers. I 'll be giving one away each week for the next two weeks.

This is the second week (of three) and the giveaway will run through next Tuesday evening, April 28st.

To enter, simply leave a comment answering the following question:

What kinds of healthy snacks do you pack to help energize your active kids?

We like to combine whole grains and protein around here... cereal and drinkable yogurt or cheese and wheat crackers help fuel my on-the-go kiddos!

(*Important: This coupon offer for a free six pack of Yoplait for Kids yogurt is not valid in some states, including Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota and Tennessee.)

Good luck! I just know the winners are going to have a blast with this prize.

Yoplait Get Active Prize Pack Winner!

Big congrats to Amy, the winner of the first Yoplait Get Active Prize Pack!

Here are your random numbers:

1

Timestamp: 2009-04-22 12:12:53 UTC

In response to how she stays active with her family, Amy responded:

"We walk around town, play in the yard and go for bike rides. Oh, and tag on the park playground. Sheeeesh -- why is mommy the favorite target?!"

Sounds like they're having lots of fun!

Would the rest of you like to get in on it? Stay tuned... I'll have week two of this giveaway posted very soon!