You are here: Home / 2011 / Archives for June 2011

Father’s Day Gift Two Free eBooks: ManVentions & Dude You’re Gonna Be A Dad!

June 17, 2011 By 1 Comment

From Today until Sunday you can get two free eBooks for Dad for Father’s Day.

ManVentions by Bobby Mercer commemorates the astounding inventions of things like cold-activated beer bottles, video games, and the ride on lawnmower! Any guy will feel immense pride learning about all the vital inventions their fellow brethren have come up with.

Find For Free:

Amazon Kindle
Barnes & Noble NOOK
Sony eReader
iTunes/Apple (preview)

Dude you're going to be a dad book cover&

Dude, You’re Gonna Be A Dad! by John Pfeiffer is THE go-to guide for fathers-to-be.

Congratulations!  You’ve planted your seed and to Grandma’s delight, the bouncing bundle of baby joy will arrive next fall.  Think your work here is done?  It’s only just begun.
As she’ll likely remind you 1000 times a day, pregnancy isn’t just her job…in fact, there are approximately 3,712 ways for a guy to look 100% stupid during his partners pregnancy.  DUDE, You’re Gonna Be a Dad:  How to Get (Both of You) Through the Next 9 Months by John Pfeiffer helps daft soon-to-be dads avoid them all.  First tip:  Focus on what you can be doing for her rather than what’s happening to her. It will be best for you both.

It’s a long road from that stick turning blue to the drive to the delivery room.  And while her 152 baby books tell her exactly what she can expect, dad’s information outlets are considerably less.  Like any good coach, author John Pfieffer has seen it all (and lived to talk about it).  Form morning sickness to birthing lessons to countless rounds of nursery room paint color options, Pfeiffer teaches dads how to remain positive and responsive but assertive when the need arrives (no one wants a son named Percy, afterall).

John Pfeiffer is a married father of three.  With a stepdaughter, a naturally conceived daughter, and a baby by way of a threesome (with an IVF specialist), Pfeiffer is especially qualified to take expectant dads all the way through pregnancy’s home stretch.  He lives with his wife and kids in Atlanta, GA.

Find for free on:

Amazon Kindle
Barnes & Noble NOOK
Sony eReader
iTunes/Apple (preview)

Filed Under: savings Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Giveaway Jingle Link Up Your #Giveaway Here

June 16, 2011 By 2 Comments

You’ve got a giveaway, I want to know about it! Oh, and if you list your giveaway on Mom Start facebook page then I will try to remember to tweet it out to all of my twitter followers. At 9200 followers and growing all the time! Cool? I hope so!

 

boy with ballons

I’ve got a few giveaways you might want to check out too!

Filed Under: linky Tagged With: , ,

Jamie Oliver Food Revolution and the LAUSD

June 16, 2011 By 2 Comments

I find the tables have turned since my childhood. In 4th grade (1988) I was the student council representative for my class and our corresponding 2nd grade “buddy” class at Meadowbrook Elementary School in Norfolk, VA. Our school only offered students plain, white milk. As a 4th grader my thought was, “How boring?!?!?” And I got the student council to make the change within our school to offer chocolate milk as an option every other Friday; as I think back I don’t know if any child took the white milk on our “treated” Fridays. Now as a parent looking into the school districts, nationally and locally, I wonder why they just don’t offer only nutritious, naturally white, nothing-else-added milk.

clip_image002

The breaking news on June 16, on MSN and in my email inbox, was that Jamie Oliver and his Food Revolution Team (I watch the show!) had finally helped parents and health advocates change the milk distribution of California’s largest school district and the USA’s 2nd largest school district, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), starting July 1, 2011. I hope my school district is soon to follow in the movement. My oldest (4YO) will not be able to say “no” to chocolate milk when he’s in elementary school as a Kindergartener. He is a skinny little thing that doesn’t have to work at keeping a healthy looking body … yet.

My oldest can eat whatever he wants and maintain his body type, but that can’t be mistaken for healthy. I want to create life-long healthy habits for him to grow and live by for his lifetime. I’m trying to teach him about the differences in foods — strawberry fruit snacks v. strawberries, sweet potatoes v. potato chips, processed cereals v. oatmeal, milk v. “candy” milk. I can use some help and I believe my local school districts should help my son learn these food lessons by only offering appropriate, whole food options for him to choose from and by continuing this learning in their classrooms. Jamie Oliver has not only been working on changing the LAUSD’s milk, but food selections offered to children too. For instance, instead of offering beef quality that is as cheap and low-grade as dog food or less, Jamie proposes offering our nation’s growing children natural, high quality grade, natural beef through the school system.

clip_image004Changing the milk is a great start to make changes in our school system’s lunch lines. Jamie Oliver says, “With flavored milk, kids are getting loads of sugar and other food additives they simply don’t need to grow and learn. In the Food Revolution the little battles set us up for the next win. All these little battles count; they matter. It’s not just milk. It’s caring about what we feed kids 180 days a [academic] year.” If you want to learn more about Jamie Oliver and his Food Revolution check his website and Food Revolution Facebook page. You can also catch the Food Revolution on ABC on Friday evenings at 9 p.m. (8 p.m. Central). You can even catch the last episode of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (if you missed it) on the ABC site.

If you’re interested to see if your school district is making  changes check out Jamie’s handy-dandy Milk Map. If your school district isn’t on there and should be, cclip_image006ontact the Food Revolution. If you’d like more information on my source check out this release from the Food Revolution which includes a milk fact sheet and sweetened milk calculator. Hopefully it will MOO-ve you to action in your area!

About Summer:

Summer is the President of our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living while cooking up a storm.

Filed Under: Announcement, review Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Tasty Treat Thursday S’more On-The-Go Recipe

June 16, 2011 By 6 Comments

Sometimes you just need something easy in your back pocket … this time, not literally! HA!

These are great if you’re camping out in the backyard, attending a troop meeting, or want to cook with your kids.

clip_image002

S’more On-The-Go Recipe

INGREDIENTS

4 Tablespoons butter or margarine
40 ounces marshmallows
6 cups Fiber One Caramel Delight or General Mills Golden Grahams cereal
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Grease a 13×9 dish. Measure out cereal and set aside.

2. In a large pan melt butter over medium-low heat. Add marshmallows and stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat.

3. Stir in cereal until coated in marshmallow cream.

4. Use plastic stirring spatula or wax paper to press cereal mixture into pre-greased pan. Before marshmallow is completely cooled sprinkle with chocolate chips and gently press to stick.

5. After completely cooled cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.

About Summer:

Summer is the President of our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living while cooking up a storm.

Filed Under: recipe, Summer Tagged With: , ,

TOMS Eye Wear One For One Movement

June 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Mom Start wasn’t the first to break any news about the TOMS company. In fact, their One for One shoe business has been happening since 2006. Starting June 14, 2011, TOMS also started a new One for One adventure selling sunglasses.

clip_image002

This project, though new to the TOMS brand, has been in the making since 2007. TOMS is now offering eye wear and giving eye wear. So whether (and weather) you’re gearing up for the summer sun to shine or the winter snow to reflect, consider being one of the first to own (and give) a pair of new TOMS brand sunglasses. If you’re not sure they’ll look good on you, then try them on by uploading a photo of yourself and click on the glasses you want to see on your face.

If you need to do some more research, read the TOMS LookBook  or on their blog which offers a brief overview of this new One for OneTM movement.

But don’t worry, TOMS will continue to specialize in shoes as well. TOMS also offers promotional appeal, stickers, and flags. Stay up to date on the latest from TOMS by liking them TOMS on Facebook and tracking TOMS on Twitter @TOMS.

 

About Summer:

Summer is the President of our Local MOMS Club chapter, she is the mother of two adorable active boys, and is always thinking of ways to help others. She is a friend, a wife, and always busy as all mommies are. She is very active on Facebook, addicted to Geocaching and very interested in organic and green living.

Filed Under: review Tagged With: , , , , ,

Enjoy a Frosty on Father’s Day For Charity #TreatitFwd

June 15, 2011 By 282 Comments

A few weeks ago, on Memorial Day, we went to Wendy’s for a family picnic. I purchased the food and we took it to our neighborhood park and one thing my husband specifically asked for was a Frosty. A true Frosty is soft served chocolate ice cream but it’s better than soft served. The consistency is better, it’s thicker than soft serve. We just love them.

Frosty TreatItForwardThanks to  The Motherhood and Wendy’s we’ll be enjoying a Frosty for Father’s Day and we’ll be giving to charity at the same time. Wendy’s will be giving 50 cents from each Frosty purchase to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DTFA) on Father’s Day weekend (June 18 & 19). These donations will be used to benefit the cause of Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, which is a program that helps foster children in need find great homes.

How Can You Make an Even Bigger Difference?

Just follow these simple steps and Wendy’s will make further donations to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.

On Twitter, use the Treat it Forward application on www.facebook.com/frosty (Treat it Fwd tab), or use the hashtag: #TreatItFwd (please note, this is modified from the hashtag I sent last week). A donation will be made, by Wendy’s, for each designated tweet or re-tweet made from Treat it Forward.

On Facebook be sure to send a Facebook friend a “virtual” Frosty, or tell friends about Father’s Day Frosty Weekend through the Facebook application found on www.facebook.com/frosty (Treat it Fwd tab); as a result, Wendy’s will make a donation.

Also, from Facebook, on Father’s Day Weekend only (June 18 & 19), offer a “Here’s to You, Dad!” Frosty “virtual toast” by snapping a photo of you raising your Frosty cup to Dad, tagging it with the words “Wendy’s Father’s Day Frosty Weekend” and posting it to Wendy’s Facebook wall or tweeting it; this, too, will result in a donation from Wendy’s.

Do you Foursquare? Every person who ‘checks in’ to a Wendy’s during Father’s Day weekend only (June 18 & 19) will result in a donation from Wendy’s.

This giveaway has ended. Congratulations to Aaron B from IL.

This is a project where we received a gift card to Wendys from the Motherhood on behalf of Wendys.

Filed Under: giveaway Tagged With: , , , , ,

Bloggers How Not To Pitch A Company

June 15, 2011 By 18 Comments

Traveling to all of these different brands the past two weeks, I’ve gathered a little intel from blogger friends, PR reps, companies and brands. I was surprised at some of the pitch letters that brands get from bloggers, and sometimes brands will still explore your request even if it is a bad one. They know most of us are brand spanking new at this form of media, but I wanted to pass on a few small tips from the experts, that might help improve your chances of getting the larger reviews. When I actually had time to pitch companies, I was hardly ever turned down. I usually get what I ask for. So I know my tips work.

1. Do not pitch a brand with “I need”…

Of course you need a new washing machine, trip to Florida, or a year’s worth of groceries. We’re all in the same economy here, money is tight for almost everyone. I need an all expense paid family vacation to Disney World, right? Remember it’s about what you can do for the brand, and don’t fret if you’re small. If you can prove you have influence with your readers and followers then you’ve got it. It’s all about the brand here, not you and me. The brand wants to make sales here, they’re not in this for philanthropy. The company has needs, research the company, find out what their mission statement is, pretend it’s a job interview because you will be representing them. What do THEY NEED?

2. Do not inflate you stats

We all hate stat counters and ways that companies judge and rate us against each other but it is a FACT of life in this business. Klout is just crazy with all of their odd computations. Compete, let me tell you, two years ago, Compete rated me 10,000 above how many visitors I was actually getting, and this year, it’s rating me 10,000 under what I’m actually getting. I have no idea why, all I know is that companies do use compete. One of the trips I was just on, they said they used compete to get a feel for how many visitors we have. Another company that I just visited with, they use Alexa. You know to get a better Alexa score all you need to do is use the Alexa toolbar. Get your friends to install it. Join a community that all use the toolbar. Google Page Rank, aka PR, my PR was once a 4. It was a four for maybe 3 months then it jumped right back down to a 3, I’ve been a solid 3 most of my blogging career, again, I don’t understand the mathematics behind it. Are people linking to me, yeah, according to Alexa I have 336 incoming links, I’ve seen PR 4 sites with only 150 links coming in, according to other sites, I have 25,000 links coming into my site. I guess they’re just the wrong sites linking to me. Do I care, no! Why, I’m going to continue blogging if companies want to work with me or not. I have plenty to write about with a brand new house that’s been flooded and two growing charming kids that crack me up. Anyways, point is, do not inflate your stats, use google analytics and take a screen shot. It never hurts to provide proof.

3. Do not write long pitches.

If you think your inbox is full just think of what the PR reps and companies are receiving. They have a day job, they have their work, they have people responding to what they asked for. They don’t want to read your life story just so you can write a review or host a giveaway. Keep your pitches short and to the point and remember that your subject line and first sentence has to keep them reading onto your next. Ask for a particular item and tell them how you will highlight that item and your reach through social media, quickly mention your strong points. Link to your about me page for more information about you and your blog. Make sure your about me page has data about who you’ve worked with in the past, and if you’re new write about your passions.e  I need to update my own about me page, it’s currently my passions, I wrote it 3 years ago.

4. Do not be vague.

When you write a pitch to a brand tell them exactly what you want. Tell them exactly how you are going to use it, tell them about how long it takes you to write the review and you’re available over phone or e-mail to further discuss the details. Also, send your address in your first correspondence with them. Show them you know they are going to say yes. Do not wait for them to contact you and accept your request. Assume they are going to accept it. Follow up in a few weeks, Did you get my request, when should I expect to review your products, send them your address again and a copy of the original e-mail. Persistence pays off.

5. Do not GUSH

No one wants a brown nosing kiss ass, one you’re readers will not find you genuine. Two as much as companies love to hear how much you love their product, they may wonder about your vocabulary if you love love their product line and love how they run their company while loving every little detail you’ve lost the facts. You can make it about the company just by showing them what you are willing to do for them over your networking channels.

What should you do?

Just Be Yourself not doing all the things above.

Filed Under: personal Tagged With: , , , ,

Wordless Wednesday DIY

June 14, 2011 By 35 Comments

 

DIY

Had so much fun working with Craftsman Power tools. I made this with a band saw and a rotary tool.

 

Disclosure: Craftsman paid for all the airfare and hotel expenses during the Craftsman DIY blogger event.

Filed Under: personal Tagged With: , ,

Tending Our Flower Garden With Allergy Care

June 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour conducted by Clever Girls Collective on behalf of Children’s Claritin®. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program.

Being an allergy sufferer myself it pains me to see my own children suffer from allergies too. My poor daughter has those itchy red eyes, relentless nightly cough, and perpetual runny nose all throughout allergy season. Miles hasn’t show quite as many allergy season symptoms as his sister, but the doctor did tell us to keep on the lookout for them and how to limit Spring’s adverse affects. Does that mean we keep our kids indoors all Spring and Summer long? No way! For one, I’d go insane trying to keep two kids indoors with the sun shining outside.

We take it outside every day and do the best we can dealing with those pesky spring allergies. Now my allergies have gotten so bad that my husband has banned me from the flower garden. Which means, he and the kids do it for me. Zoe loves helping in the garden. Daddy lets her use the big giant shovel, get covered in dirt, and even lets her sweep up the mess when they are all done. I know, I’m very lucky my children show great enthusiasm for cleaning up messes.

Here are some Allergy Prevention Tips we Take:

We make sure the kids wash their hands whenever they come inside

We don’t bring very many wild flowers into the house

We make sure they change their clothes if they were digging and playing with flowers

image

 

At night, we take other precautions that help limit the symptoms of gardening. The kids have to take a bath to wash off all the allergens. We also keep our windows closed for as much of the season as we possibly can. As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, Zoe suffers from allergies in her eyes quite a bit. One tried and true all purpose remedy that I learned from my own mother, is to give her a cool wash cloth. One night when she couldn’t sleep because her eyes were so itchy, I brought her a cold wash cloth. It must have worked, because I’ll often find a wet wash cloth in her bed. Our doctor did recommend that we take Claritin if the symptoms persist and I have a bottle ready to start using it if we decide her allergies are as bad as last year. We’ve had a very unusual Spring with much colder temperatures and much less outdoor time. Last year, we used Claritin for the entire summer.

 

Clear to Enjoy Spring: The Allergy Guide for Moms and Kids

 

For more tips on relieving allergies, visit www.Facebook.com/Claritin. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Filed Under: personal Tagged With: , , ,

Committing To Eating Fresh

June 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Being busy busy busy all the time, I will and often admit here on MomStart that I will cut corners and buy processed foods. I use yogurt dip, spreadable cheese, and packaged cookies. I can’t do it all you know. That being said, my family goals this last year have required me to eat more fresh foods. I cook more home made meals, and buy fresh organic fruits and veggies at Costco. Costco has the largest best priced selection for our family when it comes to year round fresh organic food. However, now that it’s summer time the farmer’s markets will be open and I can’t wait to take the kids and let them pick out their own fruits and veggies. Zoe has even asked me if we could go to a farm and pick our own berries. It’s quite common in Washington to fill a bucket with your own freshly picked fruit.

Salad-photo_thumb

You may not know this, but a year ago I was chosen to be on the Frigidaire Test Drive program, and because of my affiliation with that program, Frigidaire keeps me informed on their activities and charity projects. Frigidaire has been working with Jennifer Garner (my favorite actress who I have not had the pleasure of meeting, but look forward to that opportunity one day in my dreams) on their Frigidaire Kids Cooking Academy Summer Session. On June 9th they headed out to Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, NY to encourage families to eat more fresh foods.

Because many children in the world do not have access to fresh food, Frigidaire is continuing their support with Save the Children’s U.S. Programs. To help give more children access to fresh foods, Frigidaire is unveiling a partnership with the location-based “chec in” app, Gowalla. Anytime someone checks in at their local Farmer’s Market via the app, Frigidaire will make a $1 donation to Save the Children, as part of their $500,000 commitment to the cause.

And anytime you make a commitment to eat fresh at MakeTimeForChange.com you will trigger another donation AND this is a big and, be entered to win a new Frigidaire Gallery French Door Refrigerator.

 

Disclosure: I received compensation from Frigidaire with no expectations for me to post about it, I chose to post about it because I strongly believe families should try harder to “Freshen” up their diets.

Filed Under: personal Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »