Embracing a Healthy Family

The Avenger's Movie Release Giveaway 5/15


MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS opens in theatres everywhere next Friday, May 4th! In celebration of The Avengers opening in theaters Mommy and Baby Reviews and Giveaways, Mom Blog Society and Mom Does Reviews are giving 3 winners the Ultimate The Avengers Prize Pack filled with goodies!



Each Prize pack includes the following:
MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS t-shirt in adult sizes of S, M, L or XL

MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS set of 6 buttons

MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS one pair of limited edition 3D glasses

Free Schick Hydro Silk Razor


There are many more razors left so sign up for a free one here.

Reviewers Wanted for Book for Children with Epilepsy



I'm looking for about five reviewers for this new book, I Have Epilepsy. It Doesn't Have Me about epilepsy geared for children.  If you would like to review the book, you also must agree to post on Amazon within two weeks of receiving the book.  If interested, send an e-mail to youthfultips@yahoo.com.

Father's Day Gift Idea: Michaels & Adorable Baby Clothing

I was trying to think of a nice personalized present for my dad for Father's Day and Pinterest came through.  Even though my photos didn't turn out quite as nice as I had hoped, the end product is there.  I will probably go ahead and retake some more to get the right effect but here is what I did.  After putting the girls in one of my favorite dresses from Adorable Baby Clothing, I was ready to have them hold the letters that spelled out D A D.  I purchased the letters at Michaels and will probably pick up a frame since they have great framing sales.





That's my first attempt so I'll see what else I can come up with.  I can admit that I'm lost without the photo editing software Picnik.  Even though they moved it to Google, it's not the same as many of the features are missing so I hope they bring it back.  All in all, I think my dad will like the gift.

Blogger wii Giveaway Sign Ups!

Wii Giveaway Blogger Sign-Ups

Do you think your fans would love a wii gaming system? Who wouldn't?

Join us for this amazing event and make your readers very happy too :)

There will also be a blogger prize for most referrals!

Here's what the prize package will include
  • Black Nintendo Wii
  • Black Remote & Nunchuck
  • New Super Mario Brothers
  • Nintendo Music CD
  • 4 Games
  • All Participating Blogs get backlinks to their site.
$8.00 for 3 links. $1.00 each additional link.

Spiritillo – Italian Hand Knit Blanket Giveaway 5/8



Are you tired of Made in China, Are you looking for unique gifts or clothing for the children in your life? Spiritillo Italian Hand Crafted Creations offers select handmade clothing for children, exclusively made in Italy with Italian thread. Owned by Miriam Brindisi, Spiritillo Italian Hand Crafted Creations is Proudly made in Italy. As a child, Miriam learned how to crochet and knit from her grandmothers and aunts, who in turn learned from their grandmothers and aunts. She now continues their age-old tradition. She uses cashmire, cotton, lisle and wool. Miriam's mission is to provide quality attire for children, using ancient techniques with a modern twist. Each piece is different from the other, no two are ever the same.

Last Day to Enter to Win a $75 Amazon GC & Ficklets

Hurry and enter to win a $75 Amazon gift card and Ficklets!  Ficklets are the first patented interchangable eyewear charm huggers for  your children's glasses.  They are cute, inexpensive and adds some amazing personality to your little one's glasses.






To enter, click here.

Advertising Turnaround: "Exploiting" Men

I've long wondered why everything evolves around half dressed women in the rammed down our throat perception of the "ideal" woman who really isn't a "real sized" woman.  Of course there are women who wear size 0, sports size DD bras and is just perfect looking all around but that is not the norm.  Given what the average American woman is, I can't understand why we are bombarded with these images of women who look hungry.  I also don't understand given the population demographics of our country.  We are a country with more women than men.  Women work more now so definitely have buying power so why do the commercials and shows cater to men?  Do the advertisers really think us women want to have those images bombarded in our heads?  Do they want to create a society that we can't live up to?  I think it's dangerous on many fronts and then they scratch their heads at the soaring number of eating disorders among girls and women.


I diverted a bit but the topic of this post is THANK YOU ADVERTISERS!  I'm happy to see that businesses are now turning the tables and are exploiting men.  My oldest saw the Liquid Plumr commercial and immediately thought of me.  In fact, every time she sees a like minded commercial, she lets me know.  I've even went so far to write advertisers to give them kudos.  Maybe if men were bombarded with images of perfect, hot men, they might see how it feels to think you have to live up to the perfect image.  I was watching a vodka commercial called Save the Fireman and again, it was of another commercial for us women.  I'm glad to see more and more advertisers are figuring it out.  


There are more women then men.  We have buying power.  We want commercials catered to us too!


I had to share this one because I love it:


The Munchies: People's Choice Food Award Voting Time Begins


People's Choice Awards

If you are foodie like me, you enjoy the awards that go to food!  From world-class restaurants to food trucks, and everything in between, you can help decide who's truly the 'best of the best' across 20 categories in the world of food in the first ever The Munchies: People's Choice Food Awards.  General Mills' Tablespoon.com is honoring the most delicious food experiences America has to offer - from the most iconic burger, to the best local farmers market, to the best chef.  Featuring some of their favorite food people from TV, blogs, books, restaurants and beyond, Andrew Zimmern, Chef & James Beard award-winning television personality, and a panel of celebrity chowhounds have developed the list of nominees across three groups:
  • Terrific Tastemakers- the media and personalities that make the food world sizzle, from Favorite Food TV Personality to Favorite Food Blog
  • Best Bites- the most delectable interpretations of our favorite foods, like Most Iconic Burger and Best Cookie
  • Delicious Destinations- the establishments that keep us coming back for more; think Coolest Coffee Shop or Most Intriguing Cocktail Bar

ph <--- Vote for my personal favorite, Bobby Flay!


Vote for your favorites once per day (even recast your whole ballot with just a click!) at Tablespoon.com/themunchies now through April 30th.  You can check back in May to see who the winners are!

While celebrating food, they're also fighting hunger.  On behalf of the expert panel and all of the voters, Tablespoon.com is donating $15,000 to Feeding America, the nation´s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. One good meal deserves another, so head on over to Tablespoon.com/themunchies to vote now!



*Disclosure:  The information about The Munchies: People´s Choice Food Awards was provided to me by Tablespoon.com through MyBlogSpark.

Healthy Directions Website & DIscount


Dr. Aaron TaborHave you heard of Dr. Tabor?  If not, he has devoted his career to researching and developing scientific and medically based anti-aging solutions, including ground-breaking natural skincare therapies and weight-control products. He focuses specifically on the use of safe and effective skincare ingredients, as his research has found most anti-aging skincare therapies on the market to be scientifically baseless, ineffective, and even harmful. 

Dr. Tabor also believes that a woman’s external appearance is a direct reflection of her internal health, and he has made it his mission to develop effective products that contain ingredients that help women achieve total health, wellness, and beauty—from the inside out.  He is just one of the four doctors you can learn more by visiting the newly launched redesigned Healthy Directions website and save 15% off your entire purchase with code BLOGLUV.

The Healthy Directions website has been redesigned to provide a highly targeted experience for people to easily navigate and understand health conditions, putting them on the path to good health.  It features expert content and an e-commerce store, which offers an array of vitamins, supplements, skincare, and other health and wellness products.  The new site also provides visitors with access to Healthy Directions doctors, leaders in the industry who work with both alternative and conventional practices.

HealthyDirections.com


Healthy Directions provides:
  
  • Healthy Directions is a leading direct-to-consumer nutritional supplement company and publisher of alternative and complementary health newsletters, which has been providing doctor-guided health advice to address specific health concerns for more than twenty years. 
  • Healthy Directions has a strong history of doctor-developed formulations with incomparable safety, quality and consumer service. Their mission is to help people lead healthier, happier lives by providing expert guidance and advanced nutritional supplements from America’s leading doctors of integrative medicine.
  • The new website has been designed to help people easily navigate and understand health conditions and to provide them with information that will help put them on the path to good health. It combines the most useful doctor-guided information on how to address, treat, and cope with health ailments that affect a significant number of Americans including: heart disease, diabetes, digestion issues, arthritis, hormonal issues and aging.  
  • Previously only available via subscription newsletters, Healthy Directions’ rich online content will give consumers access to each doctor's philosophy, information on how to address a specific health issue, and feature answers to the most commonly asked questions related to achieving and maintaining good health.  


Stay Connected


*Disclosure:  I did not receive compensation for this post but the information was provided as part of a blogger program I will be participating in.

Free Schick Hydro Silk™ Available!

Free Schick Hydro Silk™ sample are available!  Through this link, you can receive a free Free Schick Hydro Silk™!  I just did so it's not a scam and I signed up to be an insider which is why I get to share these samples with my readers.


Just click to sign up for your free Schick Hydro Silk sample.

HBL Hydrating Shampoo & Conditioner Review & Giveaway 4/30 ($95.85 Value)

 HBL Hair Care | Health. Beauty. Life.


I have wavy or slightly curly hair and it's hard to take care of mostly because I color it, dry it and then use my CHI hot iron on it.  It's very abused and I have split ends, very dry hair and it's hard to keep the tangles out.  This is one place where I don't skimp out on a good hydrating conditioner.  I was offered an opportunity to review complimentary bottles of HBL (Health. Beauty. Life) Hydrating Shampoo, Conditioner and Treatment so I gave it a try for two weeks.  




Pro's:


  • Softer hair
  • Less tangles
  • Improvements in split ends
  • Conditioner is highly concentrated - I did add water as I applied it (see con below)

Con's
  • The conditioner is thick or very concentrated so I had a hard time getting it out of the bottle without using brute force.  I did add some water which helped to get it to come out and I didn't notice if it affected the conditioner because my hair still seemed to improve.  This could also be a pro because you don't need as much.
  • I did not like the fragrance of both the shampoo and conditioner.  It wasn't a bad fragrance but it wasn't one that I liked.

Overall, I did notice improvements to my hair and it did help to remove the tangles that plagues my hair.  In spite of the fragrance, I'm still using it so that is indicative to the product's effectiveness and how I like it.  The Treatment adds an extra layer of defense against the harsh elements I subject my hair to.

Stay up to date:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/HBLHairCare

The Giveaway:

One reader will win their own set from HBL!

K5 Learning Online Reading & Math Program Review Coming Soon & Blogger Opp

Home


K5 Learning has an online reading and math program for kindergarten to grade 5 students.  I've been given a 6 week free trial to test and write a review of their program.  If you are a blogger, you may want to check out their open invitation to write an online learning review of their program.

My Little Taylor Swift Wannabe

My soon to be five year old loves to sing and even goes so far as to "write" her own songs.  She's either dancing, singing or doing something as she's the busiest little bee I have ever seen.   I figure with her love to entertain us with either singing, dancing or making us laugh, she will end up being something in the entertainment world.  She is a Taylor Swift fan so I'm sure she is inspired by her quite a bit.  Both my girls love Taylor and I'm glad because she is one role model I don't mind them admiring.  

Check her out: