2010 July — MomStart

Educating Children about Eating Healthy OrganWise Guys Giveaway

July 15, 2010 By Momstart 98 Comments

Tools to teach children make learning so much easier. Or at least I know that I’ve always been a visual learner. Visual aids, examples, that’s my way of learning and I know that everyone is different. Some people can just hear something and then it’s with them for life. I’m not that lucky. I have found that teaching my kids has been very easy so far, but explaining to them about organs inside their bodies, that they can’t see has been very difficult.

OrganWise Guys sent us two organs. They sent us Hardy Heart and The Kidney Brothers along with quite a selection of coloring books and two DVD’s to teach my kids about eating healthy. Zoe’s learning!

Miles has been taking Hardy Heart to bed, until he got Buzz Lightyear, but that’s another story for sure.

Teaching children about eating healthy foods and getting plenty of exercise should start quite early. Summertime is the perfect opportunity to get your kids outdoors and reinforce the healthy habits we all want to instill in our children. The OrganWise Guys make learning about nutrition and physical activity FUN and memorable for children ages 3-12!

The Smart From the Inside Out Activity book and Smart From the Inside Out reading book has been getting Zoe asking questions. She wants to know what all of the different organs are. And what they do. So it’s been a lot of fun showing her what the heart looks like and that it is in side her beating and helping all of her other organs. These questions lead to taking care of them. She says,

“I need to exercise mommy”

And that makes me smile!

Enter to win:

The Summer Fun Kit:

Soft plush toys: The Kidney Brothers and Hardy Heart
Educational DVDs: (1) H2Ohhhhh! learn and love everything about water from The Kidney Brothers and; (2) Extreme Couch Potato with Hardy Heart who learns to get off the couch, eat healthy snacks and go outside to play!
Books and activity books: Smart from the Inside Out – kids meet The OrganWise Guys and learn the rules of the club
Tattoos: set of 10 OrganWise Guys characters

The value of the kit is 57.75

To Enter:

Tell me what your learning style is.

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This giveaway Ends August 2. All rules can be found under giveaway rules. This is a product sponsored post.

Filed Under: giveaway Tagged With: Organwise guys, teaching tool

Better For Blogher with Healthy Choice

July 15, 2010 By Momstart 5 Comments

I can officially say I’m working with Healthy Choice and the Better For BlogHer Campaign. Healthy choice is providing 20 bloggers six weeks worth of coupons to supplement one meal a day with a Healthy Choice meal. In exchange for the meals and monetary compensation, we are asked to share our experience in “Better For BlogHer” with our readers.

I am excited to make some changes in my life and turn many of my habits into healthy habits. This is going to include not only eating healthy but also living healthy. My part in the Better For BlogHer challenge has begun and as you may have read earlier this week, dieting is hard.

To start things off I want to share the most eye opening piece of advice their expert nutrition expert Tara Gidus, “The Diet Diva” has given me so far.

Stop making excuses.

If you are anything like me I’m sure you always have an excuse for not exercising or eating healthy. According to a recent survey, 1 out of every 3 people blame having too many social events on not having time to prepare dinner. I’m always tired chasing around two kids and I use them as my excuse all the time. I don’t want to cook at the end of the day. I’d rather go pick something up. So, I’ve decided to turn chasing them into my workout and them as my EXCUSE for making healthier meals much more often.

I hope that over the course of the next six weeks, you will find more photos of me playing with the kids:

rather than sitting.

This is a sponsored post by Healthy Choice and is part of the Better for BlogHer campaign and I’ve been asked to share my experience with you in exchange for product coupons and gift cards, your experience may be different

Filed Under: personal Tagged With: Better For BlogHer, Healthy Choice

Mill Creek Entertainment Cookie Jar Giveaway

July 15, 2010 By Momstart 150 Comments

Mill Creek Entertainment has so much value home entertainment that they are giving away their DVD’s at a low price of 9.98.

"We are pleased to partner with Mill Creek and to offer fans numerous classic Cookie Jar Entertainment series at affordable prices," said Brenda Bisner, Director of Sales, CPLG US. "With such a wide range of DVDs, we are able to provide people with a variety of choices."

Cookie Jar Entertainment is a leader in the creation, production and marketing of animated and live-action programming. with a library of nearly 6,000 half-hour episodes of television features they have some of the world’s most recognizable series including Caillou, Inspector Gadget, Arthur, The Doodlebops and Johnny Test.

“We are really excited to offer such great children’s programming on DVD while giving the consumer an incredible value,” says Ian Warfield, President and COO of Mill Creek Entertainment. “This assortment offers up to four times more content than similar products from studios and major networks. This is just the beginning of an amazing lineup of titles this partnership with Cookie Jar Entertainment presents.”

These children’s DVD that are held in their cookie jar have over four hours of entertainment on each disk. Many of the episodes are from popular children’s TV series and have ten half hour episodes plus a bonus. Woot, how exciting for your little ones. If you are like us and do not have cable then DVD’s are your number one source of TV entertainment.

I have decided to donate the DVD’s that Mill Creek send us from their Cookie Jar release.

Enter to Win:

8 different titles from Cooke Jar and Mill Creek

NANOBOY:
MONA THE VAMPIRE:
HORSELAND:
BUSYTOWN MYSTERIES:
SUPER DUPER SUMOS:
RICHARD SCARRY:
WIMZIE’S HOUSE:
WORLD OF QUEST:

To Enter:

Just leave me a comment and tell me about the kids you are trying to win the DVD’s for.

Extra Entries:

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Mill Creek Cookie Jar #Giveaway

This giveaway Ends August 2. All rules can be found under giveaway rules. This is a product sponsored post.

Filed Under: giveaway Tagged With: children's tv, Cookie Jar, DVD giveaway, Mill Creek Entertainment

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover Soul iPod Touch Giveaway

July 13, 2010 By Momstart 65 Comments

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul wants to encourage readers to enjoy the summer with their friends, family, and pets as well! The summer is in full force, and enjoying BBQ’s for good food and great company is an essential part of it. When you’re out enjoying the summer time what is your pet doing? In our neighborhood, our next door neighbors have a dog and he’s outside with all of the kids every afternoon. Our dogs are our pets and when we’re out having fun they want to have fun, which is why I have a preference for dogs over cats, but I know there are cat lovers out there. Maybe cats can tell who’s really a dog lover deep down and that’s why I’ve had bad luck with cats my whole life.

Be sure to visit Chicken Soup for Pet Lovers Soul Facebook Page and like them.

Anyways! Share you summertime pet photo with us to win an iTouch. I spent quite a bit of time looking through my summer time photos of our dogs Chewbacca and Jack and had a hard time finding the perfect one. Pets are such funny creatures, I miss both of my dogs. Here is the photo I found and decided to go with.

Back Story:

It was a hot and summer day, Zoe was only wearing a diaper and a shirt, we didn’t have any air conditioning so we were trying to keep cool. Jack was trying to keep cool too and they were making faces at each other. I’m not kidding. The dog and baby were communicating or having a contest. I think Zoe won or Jack just lost attention with the game.

Caption: Beating Summertime Boredom

Enter to Win:

An iPod Touch

To Enter:

1. To enter, e-mail your photo to casts44story@photos.flickr.com. Put the photo title in the Subject Line and the photo caption in the e-mail body.

2. Visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/chickensoupforthepetloverssoul/ and click on your photo to get the custom URL (the URL of the page that has only your photo on it).

3. Copy and paste the URL in the comments section of the blog post to enter the contest!

(It doesn’t take very much time, you’ll spend more time selecting the photo than anything else)

This giveaway ends August 2nd. I will be choosing the winning photo from the links left in the comment section.

I’m a Chicken Soup of the Pet Lover’s Soul blogger and have received products for this post!

Filed Under: giveaway Tagged With: Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul, iPod Touch, iTouch giveaway

Dark Blue Season 1

July 13, 2010 By Momstart 2 Comments

Dylan McDermott plays Lt. Carter Shaw in Dark Blue on TNT and I think he’s pretty good looking. He’s been acting for years and I first remember him from The Practice in early 2000. In Dark Blue he leads a team of under cover cops that are so under cover his team isn’t even supposed to exist. The FBI has a file on him and believe he may have gone bad, but they soon discover that he’s running the streets turning in the bad guys.

The team he puts together works with criminals acting as criminals so often there is a gray line of darkness leaving them sometimes wondering what is right and what is wrong. I haven’t completely finished the season but I’m excited to see more character development and back story on Dylan’s character Lt. Shaw. Seems that once upon a time he had a woman in his life that he cared for deeply. Now, he’s in so deep any personal relationships would just put the female danger. This past relationship keeps him on top of Ty and keeping Ty’s wife safe. In one of the very early episodes Ty goes home to visit his wife for her birthday and endangers her life because he was in the middle of bringing down a case.

Lt. Shaw keeps all of the other characters in line and there isn’t anything he wouldn’t do to protect one of his own. It is that loyalty that keeps his team bringing down the bad guys because without it, one of them would be sure to turn. Jerry Bruckheimer creator of all things CSI, Without a Trace, and Cold Case also put together this edgy and dark cop show of undercover LAPD.

I’ll finish Season 1 and then probably watch Season two on Hulu or fancast if it’s available. I really like it and was looking for a summer show to watch! Order DARK BLUE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON on DVD now on the WBshop.com or on Amazon.com. Dark Blue: The Complete First Season

Here’s a quick Teaser to Watch:

Filed Under: review Tagged With: Dark Blue Season 1, Warner Brothers

Wordless Wednesday – Baking Muffins

July 13, 2010 By Momstart 26 Comments

Filed Under: personal, Wordless Wednesday Tagged With: Wordless Wednesday

My Darn Sweet Tooth

July 13, 2010 By Momstart 3 Comments

I’m being held captive my the ice cream in my freezer. I haven’t posted much about my Better For BlogHer challenge, sponsored by Healthy Choice, because I’ve been failing, well that’s not entirely true, I’m just really hard on myself and my expectations are very high. I want to lose 10 lbs in four weeks, and it’s very hard to do with my overgrown sweet tooth.

All I want is chocolate, cookies and ice cream. Those things are all ok in moderation but I lost my self control when I was pregnant three years ago and have had to re-teach myself what it means to indulge and how to stop. It has been a very hard road for me. I’m not talking about just this past week but since my second pregnancy was over. I really do want to change my way of life and eat healthy and be healthy.

I’ve started by making changes to our meal plan. I’m making more chicken and grilling it. We’ve added rice to the menu and taken out a lot of cheese. I was using cheddar cheese in about everything we cooked. That’s not very healthy and adds a lot of calories. Another change I’m trying to implement is the going out to eat. I actually thought that the salad at the Olive Garden was a healthy choice. One serving of that salad has about 300 calories, Whoa! I was shocked, the dressing that seems to be healthy for you is not healthy. They do make a healthier version if you ask for it, but who does that. We will from now on that’s for sure. I have also replaced my lunch time with a Healthy Choice meal. Healthy Choice says that people who eat Healthy Choice as part of a reduced calorie meal plan with moderate exercise improve their overall health and quality of life. In 12 weeks, participants lost an average of 12 pounds, trimmed 1.5 inches off their waistlines and lowered their cholesterol.

For Exercise, we’ve been playing outside a little more and I have found that chasing kids around the block seems to take a few calories away from you. I’m just not sure it’s enough. I believe I need to actually work out/exercise on my own terms a bit. You know, do enough to actually get my heart rate up. With my sweet tooth desires, I know I need more compensation somewhere.

So Step One was changing the meal plan

Step Two was limit the out to eating

Step Three is to pick up the exercising

Step Four is to find a control on my sweet tooth!

Do you have any suggestions for that last step?

Filed Under: personal Tagged With: Better For BlogHer, Healthy Choice

Joe’s Crab Shack Summer Time Menu Giveaway

July 12, 2010 By Momstart 426 Comments

Whenever you are on a coast, you should eat Sea Food. I love Sea Food, and my all time favorite is crab. I love when my husband takes me out to eat for dungeness crab. Now, in my area we have excellent crab, but we don’t have a Joe’s Crab Shack anywhere near us, so I can’t write a review of their new summer menu, until I get back from my vacation in September and well Summer will be over by then. In September, I’m going to visit my mom in, Destin Florida. I know Joe’s Crab Shack thrives there because last time I was visiting my mom we went into Joe’s Crab Shack to get some food. I’m sure I ordered Crab Cakes. It’s one of my favorite things to order of course! Crab cakes, crab legs, crab soup, I love it all!

The new menu at Joes Crab Shack features:

· Fried Oysters – Served with fries and spicy sriracha remoulade sauce.

· Salmon Orleans – Pan seared salmon topped with a creamy Cajun sauce that’s loaded with crawfish, shrimp and andouille sausage. Served with dirty rice.

· Samuel Adams Steampot – Sweet Snow crab, clams, meaty lobster claws, sausage, fresh corn and potatoes all steamed in Samuel Adams lager.

· The Big “Hook” Up – Fried oysters, great balls of fire, crab stuffed shrimp, fried snapper, coconut shrimp, hush puppies and coleslaw.

· Pan Seared Mahi – Served with sauteed green beans, bacon and new potatoes.

They didn’t forget the kids! The Kid’s Steampot and Captain’s Catch are a couple of the newest children’s items that will be debuting on the menu this summer.

If you know nothing about crab here are a few how-to videos for enjoying dungeness, king and snow crab in case you wanted to check them out.

Enter to win:

The chance to try out the summer time menu yourself with a 25.00 Gift Card to Joes Crab Shack

To Enter:

Tell me what’s good at Joe’s Crab Shack!

Extra Entries:

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Win a 25.00 Gift Card to Joe’s Crab Shack #Giveaway http://bit.ly/92ZE4F

This giveaway Ends July 26th. All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

This is a sponsored product giveaway, I will also receive a gift card to use at Joe’s Crab Shack.

Filed Under: giveaway Tagged With: crab, dungeness crab, Joe's Crab Shack, king crab, snow crab, Summer Menu

Family Night 5 day Countdown #Giveaway

July 12, 2010 By Momstart 241 Comments

P&G and Walmart are in the movie making business. What’s their motive? Other than the obvious, they want to bring back family night on TV. Remember when TV used to be decent and everyone could sit down together as a family and watch TV? I do!

Now, I don’t even trust the Disney Channel after Playhouse Disney goes off the air, as soon as you hear Ooh and Aah sing, “So Long, Far Well” I run for the remote. You may think I’m crazy, but I know other parents feel the way I do, at least my neighbor across the street as does. So I applaud what P&G and Walmart are doing.

On Friday, which means in five days from now, the second movie The Jenson Project will be airing on NBC. Tune in July 16, 2010 at 8/7c. Among the cast of The Jenson Project are two actors I remember watching as a kid with my family. Kelly Martin from Life Goes On, Christy and ER, and LeVar Burton from Reading Rainbow and Star Trek. I loved all of those TV shows! Randy Jackson produced the soundtrack featuring Brooke White and Jordin Sparks. The movie/soundtrack will be available in a combo pack the day after the movie airs at Walmart. I was unable to attend the premier in Hollywood but I did receive a behind the scenes look at the movie. I can’t wait until I can view the entire movie, it’s fast paced like 24, and very high tech, double life-like Alias.

The thrilling science fiction plot of ‘The Jensen Project’ focuses on the Thompson family, who are reintroduced to The Jensen Project, a secret community of geniuses conducting advanced underground research to solve the world’s most difficult problems. The family is forced into a frantic pursuit to keep a potentially dangerous technology from falling into the wrong hands, and rediscover the importance of honesty, courage and being there for one another. The film features Kellie Martin, Brady Smith, Justin Kelly, LeVar Burton, Patricia Richardson and Alyssa Diaz.

Enter To Win:

Family Movie Night, The Jenson Project DVD/ Soundtrack CD combo pack.

To Enter:

Tell me what you watched as a family growing up, or if you watch something now with your family what is it?

Extra Entries:

Become a fan of Family Movie Night on Facebook

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Family Movie Night: The Jenson Project #Giveaway http://bit.ly/aBRVvi

This giveaway Ends July 26th. All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

This giveaway is a sponsored product post and giveaway. I have a relationship with Family Movie Night (P&G and Walmart), having been sent to Oregon to go behind the scenes of the third movie, having been invited to see the movie premier of The Jenson Project, and I received press materials for the first movie, the second movie and hopefully the third movie. Disclosure is everything!!!

Filed Under: giveaway Tagged With: Family movie night, family time, P&G, Proctor & Gamble, The Jenson Project, Walmart

Protect the surfaces in your house DuPont #Giveaway

July 12, 2010 By Momstart 85 Comments

When we moved into our house we were told to seal all of the tile, grout and granite in the house. My husband and I both suffer from sever procrastination and I told my husband I would do it. But with the kids I never found the time to do it. Luckily, DuPont contacted me regarding my blog. If I have to do it for my blog then somehow I can find the motivation to get it done. So today, I sealed the granite kitchen counters that came with the house.

I have no idea how much granite countertops cost, but I hear they are quite pricey and protecting them should be much more of a priority than I made them. I have also heard that you have to reseal them once a year. Blah, that’s a lot of work, or sounds like a pain in the butt.

Guess What?

DuPont’s granite sealer lasts 3 to 5 years. Hurray! I’m so in love with Dupont right now, and my neighbors were over this weekend and saw that I was preparing to do the counters. When I told them about the 3 to 5 years aspect, all their eyes went wide and they wanted to know how I liked it after I used it. Well, instead of just telling them, I want everyone to know. DuPont’s Sealer is so easy to use and looks impeccable afterwards. I recommend it. We’re going to go to Lowes and purchase their DuPont™ Grout Sealer and I’m going to do the bathroom on the next day that I can open all of the windows again! I also need to do all of the stone tiles in the house. I’ll probably use the DuPont™ Premium Stone Sealer.

Many people think that they can use all-purpose cleaners on all surfaces, but that isn’t the case. Using all-purpose or glass cleaners on your natural stone can actually damage the stone surface and degrade the sealer. General home cleaners are usually acid based, breaking down the stone’s seal and wearing away at the surface, jeopardizing its look and feel. DuPont™ Stone Care cleaners and sealers are pH-balanced so that they are gentle and safe to use.

Sealed Unsealed

When using the sealer! Clean your counters, make sure they are dry. Tape off all areas that you do not want sealed and use gloves to protect your skin. Keep the area you are working in very well ventilated and read all instructions on the bottle before you begin.

It is recommended that you Protect, Clean and Enhance:

PROTECT

Stones have different porosity because of their mineral composition and geological formation, but all natural stone is porous. Within seconds, a renegade splash of anything from ketchup to cosmetics can sink deep into stone, often penetrating all the way through to the other side, forever leaving an unsightly spot behind. The best way to prevent stains on natural stone and grout lines is to treat its surface with a sealer to offer protection and keep it looking new. While many stones are pre-sealed or sealed during installation, these sealers often wear away from everyday use and certain all-purpose cleaners. Depending on the amount of use, a countertop or floor can become susceptible to stain penetration within one year, with most sealers fading away after five years. DuPont™ StDuPont™ Granite & Marble Countertop Sealer, DuPont™ Premium Stone Sealer and DuPont™ Grout Sealerone Care sealers protect natural stone and include .

CLEAN

No matter how careful consumers are, spills happen. The same survey found that up to 85 percent of homeowners are using general all-purpose cleaners, disinfecting wipes or glass cleaners on their natural stone, which degrade the stone’s sealer and dull and erode the surface. Instead, specially formulated cleaners are necessary to remove residue from cooking oils, food spills, hairspray and other offenders. If a spill does occur, experts recommend removing as much of the material as possible without allowing it to spread by using a non-abrasive sponge, then simply spray the area with a cleaner such as DuPont™ Granite & Marble Countertop Cleaner + Protector, DuPont™ Tile & Grout Cleaner or DuPont™ Heavy Duty Tile & Grout Cleaner.

ENHANCE

Whether daily use has dulled the stone, or a shinier “wet” look is desired, the use of an enhancer can restore the luster to polished stone and tile, or bring out the surface’s color, depth and beauty. DuPont™ Stone Care has many specially formulated enhancing products to treat most natural stone and tile surfaces, with or without shine, including DuPont™ Granite & Marble Countertop Polish and DuPont™ Stone Sealer & Enhancer.

Enter to win:

DuPont Stone Care kit with the DuPont Stone Care Granite and Marble Countertop Sealer, the DuPont Stone Care Granite and Marble Countertop Cleaner +Protector and the DuPont Stone Care Granite and Marble Countertop Polish.

To Enter:

Visit Dupont and tell me what product would work best for your counters!

Extra Entries:

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DuPont Stone Care Kit #Giveaway http://bit.ly/a3mdTc

This giveaway Ends July 26th. All rules can be found under giveaway rules.

This is a Sponsored Product Giveaway.

Filed Under: giveaway Tagged With: DuPont, granite countertop, granite sealer, grout sealer, home decor, Stone Care Kit, stone sealer

Educating Children about Eating Healthy OrganWise Guys Giveaway

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To Enter:

Extra Entries:

Better For Blogher with Healthy Choice

Stop making excuses.

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover Soul iPod Touch Giveaway

Enter to Win:

To Enter:

Dark Blue Season 1

Wordless Wednesday – Baking Muffins

My Darn Sweet Tooth

Joe’s Crab Shack Summer Time Menu Giveaway

Enter to win:

To Enter:

Extra Entries:

Family Night 5 day Countdown #Giveaway

Enter To Win:

To Enter:

Extra Entries:

Protect the surfaces in your house DuPont #Giveaway

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To Enter:

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