My Loonyverse: See the world through my eyes: September 2009

SodaStream Fountain Jet Starter Kit Winner!

Thanks to everyone for entering, I really appreciate each and every one of you. That being said, we have a winner for the SodaStream Starter Kit.

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2009-09-30 22:32:06 UTC

Congratulations to:

Jami said...

Button is in my blogroll! http://www.confessions-stayathomemom.blogspot.com

I'll be emailing for your info so I can send it along to my fabulous sponsor.

Win RapidLash Eyelash Renewal Serum

I have two prizes to give out- 2 packages of RapidLash eyelash renewal serum. Each prize is worth $50.

From the site:
Enhance your lashes with RapidLash RapidLash is an innovative paraben-free eyelash renewal serum that helps promote healthy, natural lashes and brows improving the overall appearance and condition of your lashes and brows.
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I'm thrilled with the response to my giveaways, thank you sooooo much for stopping by and supporting My Loonyverse.
The more y'all enter my giveaways and read my blog, the better the prizes I am able to offer you.

First entry- leave any comment- enter me is fine. After that you can just put something like daily entry.

If you want to go all out you can follow, tweet, tech fave, facebook, etc just be sure to leave a separate entry for each.

Here's an easy tweet if you prefer to cut and paste: RT Win 1 of 2 RapidLash Eyelash Renewal Serums worth $50 each http://bit.ly/3ym4PZ

***Anyone who votes for my motherhood essay here will get 10 extra entries per day.***
In your comment saying you voted just tell me what number it is at. Thanks.

Ends Oct 2, 11:59 pm Central Time. US & Canada, 18+

Mostly & Wordless Wednesday- Snug as a bug in a rug- Ian fix

It's been a while since I've done Wordless Wednesday or updated with an Ian fix, so here ya go. I know, I know, it's not fair all that cute in one little boy and I get to be with him so much, but what can I say, I'm lucky that way. *grin*

He's in Auntie Dodo's super soft sweater- and yes, much as I love my summer and sunshine we are enjoying the snap to crisp fall air.

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Eww I'm not eating that- dealing with picky eaters.

Hey Moms, Horizon Little Blends and TwitterMoms have joined forces to create a fun and easy blogging contest. They want to know how moms make sure their kids are eating all their fruits and veggies, even if they have to sneak them into their food! What are your tips, tricks and advice for getting your kids to eat their fruits and veggies? We want to hear from you! If you are one of the first 100 moms to enter the contest you will automatically get prizes for yourself and your readers!
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We've all heard people say "back in my day we ate what was on the table and were happy to get it".

I'm sure *we* did, but I live in the real world with real children and we don't always like what we are served.

Our horizons have broadened, our choices are plentiful and our palates are much more sophisticated. Like anything in life, we have likes and dislikes.

While I never went out of my way to puree or hide fruits and veggies in other foods as I don't think this is necessarily a good idea I never said hey I put extra carrots, celery, peppers, onions and spinach in the sauce and you ate it so you must like them either.

What I did and still do is offer a wide variety and introduce new flavors along with things I know they like so they won't feel overwhelmed with new foods.

Getting children involved with every aspect of meal preparation helps as well- from looking through recipes together and seeing what looks good to shopping together, especially orchards and farmers markets and Whole Foods stores works wonders on their willingness to try new things.

When we lived in Alaska the girls would go out each afternoon and pick what vegetables they wanted in their salad that evening so they were willing to try things most kids wouldn't dream of.

Kyra once grew a teepee garden that had layers and along with the green beans and other familiar to her foods she grew and they ate things like radishes.

The more they are exposed to different things the more they are willing to try them.

I don't think forcing kids to eat them is likely to bring on a lifelong love of healthy eating, and most kids at least most of mine will go through very picky stages, but even miss picky-pants now eats more different types of fruits and veggies than were even commonly available when I was growing up, so I think somewhere along the line I did something right.

Making bento lunches has also been helpful for getting them to try new and different things- preparing them in new and fun ways gives a willingness that might have been lacking. You can read about our bento making adventures here.

Keeping a wide variety of fruits and vegetables on hand, especially if they are ready to eat like baby carrots, celery sticks, apples and tangerines make for quick snacks and I know my kids were much more likely to choose those things if they were already prepared and all they had to do was grab and go.

Make food, the gathering, preparing and eating of it an adventure, an activity you can share, an experience and your kids will be much more likely to try and enjoy a wide variety.

Please help, I really need your votes!

Hey guys, I really need your help.

I entered a voting contest (I know, I hardly ever do cuz of the rampant abuse, but...)

The prize is a $1,500 travel voucher and two tickets to the October 14th MOTHERHOOD New York City Premier and after-party from BABYBJÖRN.. I was born and raised in NY/NJ and would love to go see my family. Hear that Toods, I might get to come see you! Get everyone you know to vote for me PLZZZZZZZZ!

Naturally, all votes will be returned if you enter voting contests and anything else you need from me if I can do it I will.

Thanks gazillions, I really appreciate it. I am Sherry Conrad and the direct link is:

VOTE HERE

You can enter daily. Thanks again, Y'all rock!

Oh, and just so you know, YES, IF I WIN THERE WILL BE A FAB SWAG BAG in it for y'all, I'll get my sissy to help me put it together.

Fabulous Freebie Alert - Smucker's Uncrustables

Starting today, 9/28 Smuckers is giving away a free coupon for a 4pack of Uncrustables just for submitting a tip on after school organization to the first 20,000. That's right- 80,000 sandwiches will be given away and all you have to do to claim yours is be one of the first to send them a short (under 50 words) original tip.

Enter here.

I got confirmation that I was one of the first 20,000. Hurry, this won't last long.
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Guest post- earn money online

Hello, I'm Ken. (Yes, that Ken.)

I'm guesting today to tell you about a PT (paid to) site I joined.

With a plethora of scams, it pays to be careful and make sure you find legit sites to join and I have found one that I am very comfortable using.

There are several things things about it that impress me.

It is easy to use.

The owner Lori is a real sweetheart and is very responsive. I had a question so I emailed her and got an answer in a very short time.

Under PTC (paid to click) there are several sites listed that help the planet and her citizens- save the rainforests, obliterate hunger, promote literacy, cancer awareness, etc. Yep, every day you help yourself (getting paid to click) and the world for a few quick, easy moments of your time.

You get paid to click, paid to sign up, paid for taking surveys. You are not going to get rich, but you can make a few extra bucks and who can't use that? With the divas and grandson I need all the help I can get.

If you sign up under me using this link or go to dollarclickorsignup.com and use caseyar as the referral I will be compensated and when you make money I will make some too. And then you can get others to sign up under you and it is a win/win- for you, for me and we'll be helping folks and the planet out a little. An easy way to do our part, for sure. Thanks, it is appreciated.

As you know by now, the diva's have wish lists miles long and though I can't get them everything they want, this will help out some.

If you do join, make sure you open a free email account so your main email doesn't get filled with offers or spammed and you can get to the offers as you have the time.

If you aren't interested or don't have the time, please feel free to pass this offer along to anyone you think might be.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Your consideration is appreciated.

I organized coupons and found I have 10 for free products! Yeah, I'll save money. #win5000

"Is lack of money holding you back? Here's a chance to win $5,000 to pursue your dreams (or help with the bills). Enter daily!"

Make a Proclamation and be entered to win $5,000 to pursue your dream! Enter daily and bring friends to increase your chances of winning. There are weekly prizes too. No purchase necessary.

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Building the perfect grilled veggie burger- step-by-step, photos

You might think you need meat to make a meal, but this right here is the perfect veggie *burger* that even die-hard meat eaters find delicious and filling.

When using fresh vegetables at the peak of flavor a dash of salt and pepper is all they ask for to bring out their amazing goodness.

Made with the simplest of ingredients you can't ask for much more in a meal. They were enough to satisfy us on their own but add some potato salad or even oven baked regular or sweet potato fries for a complete meal if you need more.

Although I prefer a multi-grain bun we were out so instead of making an extra trip to the store we made do with what we had. Spread a thin layer of mayo on the top- Hellmann's or Best, of course.

We used my fabulous wonderful Cuisinart Griddler to make these babies- Thanks, mama!- just spray or brush a light coat of evoo and add sliced portabella mushrooms (can use whole caps but these were on sale and you use less so your $ spreads farther and there are enough other goodies on your burger that it worked out fabulously).

We also grilled the yellow squash and holy macaroni- sweet and delish- we literally had to slap away fingers (mostly mine) from grabbing and eating this right off the griddler. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

A slice of delicious provolone gets slapped on the still hot squash (we prefer and used Sargento, but any that is on sale will work).

Top with organic baby spinach and thinly sliced red onion - sooooo good. We can buy the marked down spinach in the BOX (not the bag) at our Kroger as they don't wait til the stuff is nasty to knock down the price, and it lasts all week, sometimes 10 days. The trick is getting the box, the bags just don't have the staying power.

Top with a perfectly ripe juicy red tomato slice and sprinkle with a bit more salt and pepper.

Top that baby and dig in. Life doesn't get much better than this- a delicious bella burger that is made extra special with the addition of some sweet grilled squash. You definitely need both hands to eat this and then it still wants to be sliding out on you so have plenty of napkins and open really wide.

Out of hospital, catching up again.

Ugh so much to catch up on. Sorry I've been so absent- I went in Friday to get a couple of units of blood then they decided to keep me for a 24 hour observation and I finally talked them into letting me come home today- same old stuff they don't know what or why but we've got it under control for the moment.

I'm a little spacey- as my really cool new doc said they gave me a morphine/zofran cocktail as my lovely parting gift. ;-)

I have a few thousand emails to go through, my fervent hope is that if there are any wins I did not miss the deadline to respond. That would make a sucky week even suckier.

I have several more reviews to do and a couple more giveaways for you guys. Make sure you are entering- I try to make sure at least one entry is super-easy on y'all so everyone has at least one chance. I'll be getting to them and dropping my ec's- really sorry for everyone who counts on me for that- I'll be getting back to doing them regularly though. Thanks for hanging in there with me, I really appreciate it.

If y'all have a blog and don't do entrecard and want extra traffic it is a great way to get some. It is totally free and you can earn advertisements on other blogs and get them on yours. I have found a TON of great sites through ec, and I know I've built up my own traffic and stats. Which may not matter a great deal, but since we like doing reviews and giveaways, for some places things like that matter and you are more likely to get people interested in sponsoring you.

Time to rest again- blah, yeah, it sucks but I am so happy to be home! I'll catch up with y'all when I can and hopefully since my blood is back up when the other is taken care of I'll have more energy and get back to visiting and commenting like I do when every little thing doesn't exhaust me.

Sodastream Fountain Jet Review and Giveaway

We were so very fortunate to receive a Sodastream Fountain Jet to review.

The design is sleek, the price is affordable and we figured out that it will cost us a little less than half of what we currently spend (and yes, that is buying on sale). Not to mention how much less waste you are going to be generating.

We got to try several (9) flavors including an energy drink- while most aren't exact matches of the name brands they are definitely drinkable and for the savings, worth it to us. We did not receive any of the waters to try but since I am a huge fan of flavored water, this looks like something we will be trying in the future.

It is very easy to use, the kids don't even mind whipping up a batch (they actually think it is pretty cool). You just add some syrup to VERY cold water and screw it on and zhuzz it.

We will use it regularly, but honestly I think we'll get the most out of it when we have family things up at Ken's mom's house. She has tons of large get-togethers and it will be easy to make up several varieties (we received two bottles with ours so naturally a couple flavors then move on to the next) and most likely when we place an order we will be getting some extras.

The most important test, though, was the root beer float test. We are very, very picky about our root beer and it made awesome root beer floats.

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We are absolutely thrilled to be able to offer one of you your very own Fountain Jet Starter Kit! That's right, you can win a kit for yourself- a $100 + value. The kit includes the winner's choice of black/silver, white or red/silver Fountain Jet, CO2 to make over 100 liters of soda, 2 reusable carbonating bottles, a sample pack of flavors, and 3 full-sized flavors of the winner's choice. This giveaway is open to residents of the US only 18+. The giveaway will run until September 29 and end at 11:59 pm cst. You can enter daily (the main and daily entries are VERY EASY) and of if you want to jump through hoops and give yourself better odds there are several ways to earn additional entries.

Important: Make sure you have your email set to public in your profile or list it in your comment ie: discriminating_diva at yahoo dot com (do NOT do me@myemail.com or the spam bots can easily pick you up and I don't want anyone thinking they are getting spammed from entering our giveaways. I respect MY and YOUR privacy too much for that.) Once a winner is chosen I will forward your info to our sponsor, but will use your info in no other way unless you choose to friend me and/or receive our emails.

Main entry- Head on over to SodaStream and tell me which 3 flavors you will choose if you win. This entry *must* be done for any of the extra entries to count. After this initial entry for your daily entry you can just say today's entry or something like that.

Optional entries- see sidebar for the necessary links if they aren't right in this post.
Follow my blog - 1 entry
Follow me on twitter dddiva - 1 entry
Tweet this giveaway. Can be done once daily. Leave link in comments.
Subscribe via a rss feed.
Subscribe via email - must be verified
Comment on any of our older posts (not giveaway) and let me know which one you commented on- 1 entry for each
Comment on any of the posts on our food/bento blog and leave a link 1 entry each
Fave us on technorati or really any social networking site- stumble, kirsty, digg, etc... and leave a link- 1 entry for each
Add our button- 3 entries- leave link where we can find it- leave link where we can find it (leave a separate comment for each)
Add our link to your blog roll - 3 entries- leave link where we can find it (leave a separate comment for each)
Blog about this giveaway- 5 entries- leave link where we can find it (leave a separate comment for each)
Fan/friend me on Facebook - 3 entries
Fave me on Technorati and leave your user name.
Add your own giveaways or ones you come across (if they aren't already listed) to our perma-link and leave a comment then come back here and let us know- 1 entry each
Add a link to any social media and leave a link.
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Gap Outlet & Twittermoms save you $ while keeping your kids stylin'

I have some really great news, guys.

As you know, the divas and I love to shop. And shop. And shop some more.

But even more than shopping we like to score amazing deals.

Yeah, times are tough and we all need to stretch our $ as far as we can.

Guess what guess what guess what?

Baby gap is going to help us! You know we like to have Ian looking totally stylish and all- well Gap Outlet is helping us do that with deeply discounted prices.

Your can really score some amazing deals for the 5 and under set.

Thanks to Gap Outlet & Twittermoms I have a 10% off coupon you can snag here.

Gap Outlet - Semi-Annual Baby Sale TwitterMoms Exclusive: Gap Outlet Semi-Annual Baby Sale Savings!

Gap Outlet Twitter Blidgetgreat free widgetsWidgetbox

The first 50 Twittermoms to post a blog on this amazing opportunity will receive a $20 appreciation card to Gap Outlet- you can learn more about it here. If I receive it that is the only compensation I will get, there is no other incentive other than passing on a great deal and coupon to my readers.

9

The title says it all. Tomorrow, the loonyverse ('cept mama 'cuz she's not super fond of theatres) is going to see 9. If you don't know what I'm talking about, please go do extensive research on the upcoming movie called "9". Seriously.

I've wanted to see this movie since I very first saw previews for it.

My reasons for wanting to see it:

1) The name is 9. Can you GET any better?

2) It's post apocolypse, and not about people.

3)SO CUTE! CUTE, CUTE, CUTE!

4) It looks cool, and cute. And epic.

5) Tim Burton

6)Go look up the short-film of 9.

7)It looks like a movie that will make you THINK. Unheard of, I know. =P

8) The music in the background is epically awesomeness.

9) I have more reasons, but I'm stopping on 9 'cuz I'm cool like that. Plus, it comes out on 9/9/09... to bad we have to wait 'till 9:30 to watch it. But that's 'cuz of where we live.

Seriously, go look up the trailers. Also, they have an awesome website

Back to school contest winners

Here are our winners! They all either have been or will be notified, but here is who was picked by RANDOM.ORG

Girls:

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2009-09-08 19:43:48 UTC

TX_Jen34 said...

Getting away from the kid for a while.. Lol.

16.8.09

Boys:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

430

Timestamp: 2009-09-08 19:45:22 UTC

Sweeter the berry said...

tweeted

http://twitter.com/dahliamomma/ststus/3830397913

letessha@yahoo.com

7.9.09

Study Break:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2009-09-08 19:48:50 UTC

guettel78 said...

1. Blogged about the giveaway: http://slavetoacademia.blogspot.com/2009/08/study-break-basket-giveaway.html

gkaufmanss@yahoo.com

16.8.09

Congrats to all out winners, I hope you enjoy your gifts! If you won this and haven't received an email yet, email me at IansGeekyMommy@gmail.com

Menu for 9/6 - 9/13

Here's what's on our menu this week:

Slow cooker pulled pork BBQ on buns w/coleslaw, watermelon

Turkey

, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (Kyra is in the mood for a mini- Thanksgiving.)

Hot dogs on buns w/ whatever fixings anyone wants, baked chips, watermelon

Turkey tetrazzini w/ lots of vegs, salad

Hard & soft tacos w/ all the fixings

Breakfast for dinner- overnight French toast, berries

Roasted veg & cheese Panini’s w/hm turkey noodle soup

Head on over to I'm an Organizing Junkie to see hundreds more menu plans.

Win a Jet Stream soda fountain by joining in on Safe Sunday- Child abuse prevention and awareness.

It shouldn't be private. It shouldn't be shameful. IT ISN'T THE CHILD'S FAULT- EVER!

We NEED to shine a light on the horrific so everyone knows we will not tolerate it.

And if it takes bribery, then bribery it is. Trina is giving away a SODA STREAM Fountain Jet. This is over $100 value and it is that important to her. One of the requirements is that you blog against or about child abuse. (If you don't blog, you can use another form of social media to spread the word.) It can even be cut and paste of mine, or just a link or phone number. JUST SPREAD THE WORD. Tell you what- I'll get her to give you an extra entry if you add your link to the mr linky here. Please, you could be saving a life. Click HERE to win.

So, here's what I found to share with y'all today.

Darkness to light- confronting child sexual abuse with courage.

This is a new to me site that looks to have many great resources (free) as well as a prevent-a-thon. A month-long community-based media-driven event that raises awareness of the issue of child sexual abuse and provides free prevention education and training.

Guiding responsible adults to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. You can download Darkness to Light's 7 Steps to Protecting our Children.

They have articles and other resources.

Please, help spread the word in any way that you can, link up here then add your site. Feel free to add Mr. Linky to your own post, I made it public- we just want to get the word out to as many people as possible.

6 word Saturday, join the fun.

Show my Face blog hosts Six Word Saturday each week.

Thought I'd give it a try.

Here's what you do: Describe your life (or something) in just six words.

Blood low. Tired. May need transfusion.

Trying something new for 2 weeks.

Wishing for energy to visit y'all.

Pond's Wet Cleansing Towelettes Review

The little divas and I were given the chance to review Ponds Wet Cleansing Towelettes. We have mixed reviews on the Ponds Wet Cleansing Towelettes.

There are so many times we are exhausted after late play rehearsals etc and we just want to crash but can't until the face is clean, especially when they

have been wearing stage make-up for hours.

What

we love- extremely easy to use.
Wipe and toss then do the rest of your routine.
The smell is quite pleasant.
Fabulous for travel- you don't have to worry about them being confiscated or spilling.
It did work okay on light / natural looking make-up.
There was no residue when I went over it with a toner- sometimes there is with the cleansing cloths.

What didn't thrill us- Dev wears smoky eyes- heavy pencil black eye-liner w/ darker shadows and she had to wipe a few times and there were still traces. You can't see the make-up but you can tell she was wearing it. This happens with MOST products we've used/tried so that is not a deal breaker for us.
Still need to use a toner to get that fresh, clean and lovely feeling (littlest diva's words).

Overall, I would say we will use these again- and I will probably get the age-defying for myself and the micro-dermabrasion for the little divas as I believe that they will be better suited for our particular needs.

Visit www.ponds.lifestyle.msn.com to:

• Get more information on the Pond’s money-back
guarantee

• Find summer beauty tips

• Download coupons for free Pond’s Wet Cleansing
Towelettes

More winners & another giveaway coming!

I want to thank everyone who stops by and enters my giveaways or just comes to visit. We really appreciate it. Thanks to random.org the winners have been chosen and will be emailed within the next few minutes.

I'll be adding another review and giveaway within the next day or so that is just perfect for anyone who likes their beverages carbonated *hint, hint* and it is a doozy. For all of my frugal friends, it is a money saver as well.

Thanks again, and keep entering.

$25 Amazon, Paypal or 1 yr Premium OLS membership winner out of 658 entries: