And the Winner Is...

Lucky Number #14 (and seriously, if I could remember how to post the picture, I would). The winner is: HSUperparents!

Congratulations to you. Enjoy your prize :-)

Smuckers Kidvitations and a SWEEPSTAKES!!

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and Smuckers.

When Ozzie started Kindergarten, he could read.

"Of course he can", his teacher said. I assume **ALL** first-time Kindergarten parents say that because she kind of rolled her eyes at me. But here's the thing... he really could read. We didn't teach him, he taught himself. Seriously... One day, he grabbed the Bible out of my hand and started to read aloud to me when he was about 4 and a half. It wasn't long, however, before his teacher found she had her hands full with a goofy kiddo, the youngest in the class (and with the total immaturity to go with it), who could fluently and comprehensively ... read... and I truly think he was one of her "favorites" because he could understand her jokes and she didn't have to labor over things with him.

One of the ways we, as a family, celebrated Ozzie's reading in Kindergarten was by sending a note in his lunch each day. Sometimes, I encouraged him "You are going to have an awesome time in art today because it's YELLOW day". Other times I just loved on him "Son, you are the greatest 5 year old I've ever known and I'm happy to be your Mom". But what Ozzie really liked was when I included jokes in his lunch (typical boy, didn't appreciate Momma's touchy-feely side).

At first, I wrote out jokes that I knew or could make up. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before I was out of ideas so I did what all good techno moms do... I googled. Do you know how many pages of Thanksgiving jokes are online?? MILLIONS! I found jokes for every holiday known to man (and some I'm pretty sure were just made up). I found jokes about whatever hobby or idea Ozzie was into at the time (basketball, trains, animals, beaches). I even found school lunch jokes.

Ozzie's class had 2 aides that were in the classroom all day. One sat at Ozzie's table to help a special needs student. She emailed me and said she loved Ozzie's lunch time because hearing the jokes (when he read them out loud), reminded her to put notes in her own childrens' lunches. She said Ozzie's lunch table really enjoyed them too. I told her I looked them up Sunday night, printed out a page and then wrote them on scrap paper before I stuck them in the lunchbox, simple as that.

Touching base with a child during the school day is so easy, so fun and so important. My boys love to know that I'm thinking of them. Nolan's heading off to Kindergarten

in less than a month and I will be sure to put jokes in HIS lunch too. Being gone 8 hours from Mom is tough on little guys; having a note makes them feel closer to me.

Smuckers has a very neat website up... lots of ways to connect with kiddos. I especially like the Kidvitations. On it, you will find places to personalize a note for your child (complete with fonts and graphics) with a special activity together and some loving. How fun to open your lunch after a hard math test to find: "Dear Son, Let's go swimming when you get home. Love Mom" or "Dear daughter, Let's skip chores tonight and go feed the ducks down at the pond. Love Dad". I'm sure ours will say something like: "Hey Boys, Let's go to the home improvement store and BUILD something!"

Life's too short to miss out connecting with our children. It's the perfect time to start! Smuckers gives us ideas, recipes, and a free site to use. I'll be printing these goodies for school lunch, that's for sure!

Do you like sweepstakes? This is a great one. One of my readers will win a $200 VISA gift card. In addition, follow the link below to see the blogs of 9 other bloggers who are giving away prizes. Also, one lucky winner from the roundup page will win a $400 VISA gift card!

How do you enter? Take a look at the Smuckers link and tell me in your comment below, which activity you like to do with your children (or your nieces, nephews, kids you babysit, etc). Please be sure to list a good way for me to contact you if you win. The sweepstakes ends August 25, 2010 and is open to US residents only.

Here are the Official Rules

Look here for 9 other chances to win $200 and even a chance for $400Blogher/Smuckers Round-up Page

Be sure to visit: Smuckers website

Create a Kidvitation!

Home can be a busy place with the hustle and bustle of everyday life. That’s why it’s important to set time aside to spend with your kids. Use Smuckers® Kidvitations to invite your kids to share a moment with you over a perfect PB&J. Check it out http://www.smuckers.com/promotions/kidvitations/Default.aspx

Review and BIG Giveaway: POWERADE PLAY

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and Powerade.

Keep reading for YOUR chance to win a $125 VISA gift card

DISCLAIMER
“I was given POWERADE PLAY to try in my own home, and was paid for my time to write the review. I was not paid to write a positive review and all thoughts written below are my own.”

Mom , it makes me run SO FAST!

What a funny boy, my dear 6 year old is. I surprised him today with a new drink in his lunch. It was an orange-flavored POWERADE PLAY that we received in the mail for review. Today he got off the bus and literally RAN up the lane (two tenths of a mile, mind you) with a huge grin on his face.

Me: “Hi, Handsome!”
Ozzie: Mooommmmmmmm!!
Me: How was school?
Ozzie: It was Great! What is Aaron drinking?
Me: It's that POWERADE PLAY stuff we got in the mail. Did you like the new drink in your lunch?
Ozzie: Yeah! It tasted awesome. When we had walking club, I was the fastest runner!
Me: I have another drink for you for baseball practice
Ozzie: Cool.

And off he ran, into the house...

POWERADE PLAY is POWERADE’s new sports drink for young athletes. With just 60 calories per 12 fluid ounce bottle, it has 25% less sugar than traditional sports drinks. It is enhanced with 100% of the Daily Value (DV) of Vitamin C and 20% DV Zinc to help support a healthy immune system and also has 20% of the DV of Vitamins B3, B5, B6 and B12.

Our boys are loving having this fun treat in the house! I feel good serving it to active boys. I like the convenient size we received and the boys think it tastes yummy. It's not as sweet as more juices and the kids think it's "cool" like the big guys (high school boys LOL) drink.

With boys ages 6, 4, and 3, we are just getting started in the world of sports. This summer, we have a boy in coach's pitch baseball, one in t-ball and all three in swimming lessons. Of course, we also have bike riding, hiking, playing on playgrounds and just general goofiness that comes with raising boys.

Why do we keep them so active? Are we trying to raise professional athletes or something?

ABSOLUTELY CATEGORICALLY NOT!

My dear handsome husband and I believe that active boys are happy boys. We feel that America is producing too many boys who are not allowed to BE BOYS. Too much time is spent watching tv, sitting down playing video games and being told to “behave”.

Yes, our kids watch too much tv.
Yes, our kids play an occasional video game (mostly things like Webkinz)
Yes, our children are expected to behave properly.

However, they are also expected to work hard, play hard and be men. In our estimation, we have only a short time to train boys to be men. We feel our boys have a purpose here on the planet to do great things, to do hard things, to make a difference in the universe. We want them to go on the mission field, do service work or whatever it is that God calls them to do.

Each choice we make for them is often calculated by “What is the long-term implication of this activity?” Mostly, we want the boys to relate to other boys... in any culture. What are the universal languages of boys? Sports, work, and music. So... we started our boys in music as newborns. They will all play piano (at least the basics) as well. For work, they have lots of chores and their Daddy utilizes their “big muscles” with outside work whenever he can. And the international language of boys? Sports: baseball, basketball, football, swimming (and who knows what else they'll enjoy). We encourage fresh air and sunshine, tree climbing, water battles, hide and seek and stomp rocket tag.

Do we want them to be superstars? Heavens no. We want them to get the basics and have FUN. We want them to learn to enjoy being on a team and cheering for teammates. We want them to learn to be good winners and good losers. Teams are good training grounds for lots of life's lessons.

Sooo, this review of POWERADE PLAY was a fun chance for me to verbalize WHY we encourage our boys to be so active. We want them to be active, healthy well-rounded adults and the training starts as having fun... now.

WANT TO JOIN IN THE FUN??

POWERADE PLAY is having a great sweepstakes. One commentor from each blogger who reviews POWERADE PLAY will received $125 VISA gift card to use towards his or her own children's sports teams and activities! In addition to my blog, 7 other bloggers will also be giving away $125 VISA gift cards.

BlogHer.com special offers page'>PLUS: BlogHer.com's Exclusive Offer page, one lucky winner will receive $500 towards his or her children's teams! Click ">HERE for more details!

How do you enter? Simply leave a comment below telling me about your favorite way to keep children active. This sweepstakes is open from now 5/10 through 6/10.

Details:
One comment per person; You can have up to 3 comments total though—an additional comment for tweeting or blogging about my review. You will need to leave the linking url to the tweet &/or blog posting you make as a comment on my review posting in order to be counted.

Here's a link to the official site for more details: HERE

Review: More Molly, Less Money

Have I mentioned that I love the Molly Green materials? I found the Money-Saving Digests last year and just adored them. At $4.95, they were a good deal.

Guess what? Molly has an even better deal!

For a fee of $3.95 (yes, a dollar less), you can join the Molly Members program and have access to hundreds of goodies AND the monthly digest. Trust me, you will love it!

When I poked around the site a little, I found links to all sorts of wonderful things:
* Free recipe books
* Sites for free seeds
* Downloadable Easter materials
* Menu ideas
* Cleaning ideas

And of course, the digest which includes delicious recipes and even more ideas on having fun on a budget. It's just a delightful collection of frugal yet fantastic ways to bless my family!

If you'd like to sign up, here's a link: More Molly, Less Money

I think you'll really enjoy it. I know I will :-)