Are you a fan of the People's Choice Awards? If so, you won't want to miss this chance to enter to win a trip for two to attend in person on January 11, 2012 in Los Angeles. The winner will also get a year's supply of one of my family favorite's Honey Bunches of Oats cereal. The grand prize is a three day, two night trip for two winners and one guest to attend the show!
Check out the featured polls and cast your vote for the best actress, movie and more.
Honey Bunches of Oats is sponsoring next year's People's Choice Awards and you could experience some Hollywood fun by entering. Just visit www.peopleschoice.com to enter. Once you vote, you receive one sweepstakes entry and you must be a member of the website and be logged on while voting to be entered.
Online entries have to be submitted by 11:59 p.m. (EST) on December 6, 2011 so hurry!
When you vote, you will also be a part of the Honey Bunches of Votes program and will be given exclusive access to the People's Choice Awards via video content posted to Facebook. For official rules, click here.
*Disclaimer: Information was provided to me for the purposes of this post. I received no compensation for it.
Are you a Clark Kent or Superman fan? I suppose they are two of the same but some might like the nerdy side of Superman a bit more than Clark but either way, you have to love the storylines from Smallville. Nearly everyone, if not all, have seen some variation of Superman and grew up watching some aspect of it. It's like America and apple pie. Smallville rekindles our love for the hero we all want to save us. From his love to Lois to his vulnerabilities, each episode is full of intrigue, danger and more. Season 10 had many story lines and many turns but I'd say one of my favorites was Homecoming.
Homecoming was special because it gave Clark a sort of early Christmas time experience of seeing life in the past, present and the future. Although that wasn't why it was my favorite part it was because Clark was finally admitting he loves Lois and went back to make amends to where he failed.
What makes the series great is the introduction to the old villains, new villains and a different approach into the dynamics of Clark and Lois. Watching how Clark evolved from first starting to work at the Daily Planet during Season 8 to accepting his role in society to the introduction of the new villain Zod in Season 9.
What were your favorite moments from Season 10 of Smallville?
MyPublisher has many nice gift ideas for Christmas and all year round. What you may not know is that MyPublisher has greeting cards too. This Christmas or even New Year, you can find the perfect card by taking a moment to look through the many cards they offer. I had an opportunity to order cards for the purposes of this review and giveaway. I noticed that the cards cater to all from Christmas cards to holiday cards and I liked how you could sort by different categories, colors and designers making it easier to send the perfect Christmas greeting to your friends and loved ones.
In honor of Epilepsy Awareness Month, I choose purple dresses for my pictures. Since I chose purple dresses, I had to choose purple cards, right? The ordering process was easy! I found the perfect card and was able to add what I wanted to personalize it. I even added a Christmas prayer to the back of my card. I could have added more photos but I wanted to keep it short and simple.
I had a slight hiccup with my cards but I did receive them and love them. I added a sparkle sticker to jazz them up a bit because I love all things blingy. The paper is of high quality stock and the envelope insertions are the icing on the cake. Beautiful! My scan doesn't do the pictures justice however.
Here are some of my other top picks:
The Giveaway:
One reader will win a $50 Gift Code for MyPublisher! MyPublisher ships internationally, before entering, you might want to check out the policies.
To Enter:
Please use the Rafflecopter form below.
*Disclaimer: I was provided two codes from the sponsor in exchange for this post. The opinions are of my own.
Getting family together is important for yourself and your family. It's nice to see loved ones and it's good for your children to see how important family, even extended, is to the well being of a family unit. Sometimes it's just not that easy to get everyone together and with the holidays coming, memories return that give us that longing feeling to be reunited. Archives.com and WhitePages are running a "Run and Hug" contest where you could win an all-expenses paid trip for two!
What a great way to reach out to those we haven't seen in awhile. From now until December 21st, all you have to do is share your story or memory and the person with the most votes will win the all-expense paid trip for two and $1000! Cash prizes of $500 and $200 will be awarded to the runner up and the second runner up so you have nothing to lose by entering and if nothing else, you are sharing a fond memory of your loved one(s). I love the idea especially at Christmas as can you imagine if you shared a heartfelt story and sent the link to that particular family member how they would react? It's like a gift before the special day.
Both Archives and WhitePages are great resources for catching up with family, looking up long lost loved ones and looking into your family history. Archives has over 1.5 billion documents to build your very own family tree and WhitePages helps to fill in the gaps by finding people, businesses and neighbors. I have used both in the past and love the capabilities. By the way, a family tree makes a great Christmas gift too!
Shew ...Thanksgiving is over! That was a hard one to overcome with a turkey that turned out perfect and all the sweets my oldest and I made. I had to choose from pumpkin streusel pie to cute turkey cake pops to mini apple pies to a four layered chocolate pie and I forgot, tons of cookies. At the end of the day, I did pretty well. I kept my indulgences down to one piece of pumpkin pie, one piece of chocolate pie, a turkey pop and a cookie over two days. I also only had one helping from the turkey dinner and it was back to eating better. To date, I have lost 11 pounds since October 24th and I have kept it off.
I was watching The Biggest Loser's Thanksgiving special and they noted that just because it was the holidays, it didn't mean it was time to indulge. That is a hard habit to overcome especially if you spent your entire life living like that. I have found after reading about that third grader weighing 200 pounds and being taken away from his mom that I am thankful that I have expressed an importance on healthy eating with my children. My eight year old was getting chunky for a bit last year and it was mostly because I was doing something that I thought was good at least from her perspective which was stopping at McDonalds after school nearly ever day. As an epileptic, she requires regular food and by the end of the day, she was famished and feeling it so that was a quick fix. I don't know why I didn't realize at that time what a BAD decision that was but luckily, it didn't take too long.
I had joined Mamavation around that same time and I think that also opened my eyes to hear from the other moms and get the encouragement to turn healthier. I don't focus about being fat or overweight in my house rather I stick to being healthy and making healthy choices. I don't want my girls to focus on how big they perceive themselves or how thin rather if they are making healthy choices, they won't have to worry. My eight year old now chooses apple slices and milk on those rare stops at McDonald's now. She turns down most sweets when offered. I'm still working on my four year old but given how she looks up to her sisters, she will be there in no time.
All in all, it was a great Thanksgiving and even more so after weighing myself and seeing I gained nothing. The rest of my family that are partaking in my get healthy campaign are doing well too.
Every holiday season, you hear of some bad story of a "grinch" breaking in to someone's house and stealing their presents or worse yet, someone getting mugged or robbed while shopping. It's too bad that we can't relish in the moment of the holiday charm, beauty and magic without worrying about bad things that people might do. I've been a stickler for as long as I can remember about safety and definitely ensuring doors are locked at night. I've usually had a storage shed at some offsite location as well. I hear about those breaking in and just pray it doesn't happen to me. This holiday season, Master Lock is sharing tips to help secure our families and our belongings.
The safety tips encompass many areas that we can take simple precautions to help us have a great Christmas and years to come. Simple things from travel to home to shopping to decorating are all it takes to not have to wonder later "if only."
Stay tuned for a review I have on the Master Lock Breast Cancer Awareness lock and the Master Lock Security Bar for your doors.
You can click here to see them all or just keep reading the tips I copied and pasted below:
1. Travel Safely. Whether you're planning a road trip or flight, be sure to take all the proper safety precautions. If driving to your destination, check tire pressure beforehand for optimal handling and traction and consider having your car winterized by your mechanic for added safety. Stock your car with a safety kit in case you were to get stuck. Check weather forecasts and road conditions before heading out for safe driving conditions.
If you're flying to your destination, remember to secure your luggage with TSA-accepted locks, such as the Master Lock 4689T Luggage Lock, so your bags stay safe while in transit -- whether they're checked or carried on. If you're flying with holiday gifts, keep them unwrapped to avoid security checkpoint delays.
2. Secure Your Home. During the holiday season, you're likely to have guests coming and going from your home for a number of get-togethers. Be sure all entry points, including doors, windows and sliding glass doors, are locked before and after guests depart to help keep your family, home and valuables safe.
If you're traveling out of town, enlist a trusted neighbor to keep an eye on your home while you're away. Store a spare key in a key safe, such as the Master Lock 5400D, for easy access by authorized visitors. Stop your mail and newspaper delivery, and consider setting some interior and exterior lights on timers.
3. Shop Smart. To stay safe while enjoying a fun holiday shopping trip to the local mall or shopping center, be aware of your surroundings. Park in well-lit areas, avoiding spaces next to large vehicles that can block the line of sight to your car if possible, make sure you aren't followed when exiting the mall and lock your doors immediately upon re-entering your vehicle. Keep purchased gifts out of sight -- in the trunk of your car or under a blanket -- to prevent theft.
When ordering gifts online, create more secure user names and passwords for all of your on-line accounts using varying combinations of letters and numbers for each to avoid a security breach. Store all your confidential data for convenient access via web browser, smart phone, or tablet app in the Master Lock Vault™. Have your online orders shipped to your office so the delivery driver won't have to leave them out in the open on your front porch.
When storing gifts at home, be sure to think strategically about your hiding spot to keep curious family members from getting a sneak peek at their presents and spoiling their surprises.
4. Decorate Strategically. When decorating the home to reflect your festive mood, check lights for frayed wires and loose or broken plugs. Check manufacturers' instructions for the maximum number of light strands that can be safety strung together, and don't exceed that maximum to minimize risk of a short circuit or electrical fire. Keep any trees or indoor plants away from fireplaces and candles. If you have pets, take time to strategically place any decorations out of their reach, preventing them from trying to eat them or causing damage to the house.
5. Don't Play with Fire. While it's easy to get distracted when you're hosting friends and family, never leave your stove unattended while you have food cooking. Unattended cooking is the leading cause of home fires in the U.S. If you plan to light a fire, remove all greens, boughs, papers and decorations from your fireplace and make sure that the damper is open. Never burn wrapping paper in a fireplace. It ignites suddenly and burns intensely and can cause a flash fire.
For more information about these on-the-go and other security solutions, please visit the Master Lock website at www.masterlock.com or the Master Lock Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/masterlock. Visit www.masterlockvault.com to utilize the free, secure online data storage application and download a smart phone app for easy access on the go -- an ideal place to keep important passwords and other information.
The Giveaway:
Key Safes - 5400D - portable key safe, holds up to five keys, portable over the door knob mount for convenience, set your own four digit code and many other features. An $38.11 value.
Luggage Locks - 4689T - allows TSA to inspect and relock bags without ruining locks, same key opens both locks, bright colors to allow for easy identification, each package contains two locks. A $10 value.
*Disclaimer: I was provided two sample products for a review. This post was written to share information for the holiday season and was provided by Master Lock.
You probably have heard of Xia-Xia Pets by now especially with the commercials and Christmas coming up. They are the cute little interchangeable hermit crabs that kids love or at least my kids do. They have their own habitats so you can expand and have more fun and with their shells, your children can change out the looks.
The irony of Xia-Xia Pets are that my youngest was just telling me how she wanted them for Christmas and then I received my package to host our own Xia-Xia Pets party as part of my participation with BSM Media. It's one of the best things about being a blogger by having the generous support of sponsors who allow us to share in great new toys with our family and friends.
Prior to the party, here are the girls opening the big box of FUN:
As you can see, they had a lot of fun exploring the fun that was contained in the box. They marveled at every part of the habitat and of course with each Xia-Xia. They loved the different colors and how they could change the crab shells along with the cute little Kuppy that comes with each shell.
This is them setting it up to get ready for our party we are going to have next week. They haven't put them down yet and love each one of them. They had fun putting them down and watching them bump into the wall or each other and then take off again. They have little areas they can sit at during rest or just to be part of the imaginary playtime. I like them because they don't leave a mess other than the pieces to be put away. The expandable habitat allows for great fun and although it's not a really hard plastic, it's durable and takes the rough play handed out by kids.
If you want a Xia-Xia Pet for your children, check them out as they would make a great Christmas giftand your kids can even make their own wish list for you here.
We had a nice Thanksgiving this year as we seem to do almost every year. The girls had fun helping to make all of our desert table with my oldest heading up the baking crew. We had a four layer tiered chocolate pie, mini apple pies, cookies and turkey cake pops. I again used the recipe from Alton Brown for brine and my turkey turned out fantastic. It was moist and tender. The girls are crafty so we made our turkey apple menu cards. That was a lot of fun for them as they took foam feathers that I glued to toothpicks and stuck them into the apple along with the head and making the face was also fun for them.
The highlight was listening to the girls tell me why they are thankful. Growing up, we typically had at least one fight a holiday so now that I'm grown up, it's nice to see we can get through holidays without those ceremonious fights. It was a great Thanksgiving in spite of the biggest part missing was my family.
Now through the end of November, Cheerios and the USO are spreading cheer to military families with a postcard campaign. At your local grocer, you may see boxes of Cheerios with Cheer postcards on the front of the box. All you have to do is cut out the postcard from the Cheerios logo, add a stamp and mail the pre-addressed card to the USO. The USO will deliver the Cheer card to a military family across the country. For every card received, Cheerios will donate $1 to the USO to support military families. Cheerios has already donated $150,000 to the USO and will donate up to an additional $100,000 based on the number of postcards they receive now through November 30, 2012.
Being a military family, I am thankful for any business that helps to support military families. The constant deployments of one or both parents is very hard on the family and especially the children. I admire and applaud Cheerios for this campaign and I hope you can purchase at least one box of Cheerios and send the Cheer card to the USO to help further support the initiatives of the USO.
As part of this campaign to get the word out, I was able to participate and review this great prize pack from Cheerios. It include this big Cheerios bowl, Cheerios spoon, a box of Cheerios and a nice cereal dispenser. Of course, my girls were very excited about the chance to use the dispenser as who doesn't want to use something cool? I will admit that they do love Cheerios but they were insistent on putting another cereal in the dispenser in in spite of my objections.
I could take a picture to show the numerous boxes of Cheerios varieties in my pantry but it's a mess and I'm not! It's a great prize pack for a great campaign to help our military families. Military families struggle to make ends meet especially during times of deployments. The USO has been around for a long time serving both the members of the military and their families so any money they can receive to help keep the programs going, is crucial to the survival.
Isn't that a cute prize pack? If your little one wears glasses, this is a must have! If you have not heard of Ficklets, they are inexpensive eyewear charm huggers that go on your glasses with ease and look great. There are a variety to choose from and there are even ones for us adults...shh...just don't tell anyone!
Prize Pack:
5 Pairs of Ficklets
1 Youth Eyeglass Frame
1 Eyeglass Plaid Purse Case with Front Pocket to Hold Your Ficklets Collection
Microfiber Cleaning Cloth
Giveaway Value: $65 - $70
Here is just a sample of the many styles you can choose from:
Here are the details:
Submit a photo of yourself or your child(ren) from November 21 through December 5 to fickletstwinkleeyes@yahoo.com.
Tell your family and friends to come back to the Ficklets' Facebook page on December 6 to vote (like) your photo.
Voters have from December 6 - December 13 to vote for your photo.
On December 14, a winner will be chosen from the most likes.
Decorate your photo by adding a holiday or festive background. Let your creativity shine and have fun!
As a special Thanksgiving and early Christmas special, in addition to the gift basket of amazing Ficklets, a $50 Amazon card will also be awarded to the winner!
Welcome to 12 Days of Gifts Galore Giveaway Hop hosted by Tales From the Nursery, Formula Mom, and Mama on a Green Misson. There's over $5,000 in prizes offered to help you get the gifts you need this holiday season. After you are done entering our giveaway you'll want to check out everyone else's AND enter for a chance to win one of three GRAND prizes sponsored by Kudzoom! Each blog you stop and enter at will be another entry!
Need some help with Christmas ideas? Check out our Christmas Guide here.
Disclaimer:
Please note that Tales From the Nursery, “12 Days of Gifts Galore” or the “12 Days of Gifts Galore” bloggers are not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. We have represented each sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prize and in a timely manner. We will contact the sponsor regarding your prize(s). The sponsors, in most cases, are shipping their items to you directly. We will make every effort to assist you obtaining your prize. If there is an issue with a sponsor, please notify the blog you won a prize from within 30 days for assistance, after that we may be unable to assist you.
The True Story of Puss'n Boots was an interesting story that was completely different from what you might expect of Puss'n Boots due to other characterizations of this fun kitty. We received a complimentary copy of this DVD and I found it interesting given the different story line which explains more about Puss'n Boots and his interactions with the miller's son and his quest for the princess. The princess is not your traditional looking princess either and the story has a cast of other characters that makes the story line move along without knowing what will happen.
I thought it was a cute story but I found with the variety of ages I have in my home, it was mostly liked by my four year old. She loves to sing and dance and she loves princesses. The songs sang by the princess captured her attention and we have had to watch it a few times so she could hear the songs again. Now she runs around singing, "I feel pretty ...so pretty." It's cute to watch her especially because her oldest sister did not like the movie so she re-watches it to also annoy her.
I can confess that the queen's voice was annoying to me. It was a weird sounding Roseann Barr type of voice. I like that the characters were different than expected and that there were many unique types of additions to the story such as the ogre and the Chamberlain.
The movie's ending was predictable as most fairy tales are and the activities that get them to the end are fun, creative and to some, addictive enough to watch more than once. It's definitely a different spin on the classic tale of Puss'n Boots.
