Review: Stephen Joseph Gifts

Now that summer is almost over, it is time to get ready to head back to school. Wyatt is required to wear a uniform, so the only way that he gets to express himself is through his backpack. I let him decide what he wants, but it must be a bag that will last him. I definitely do not want to have to purchase a new one half way through the year.


When searching for a quality backpack, I came across Stephen Joseph Gifts. I had bought one of their quilted backpacks for Wyatt when he was a toddler and absolutely loved it! But, I was not aware of the range of products they offered. They sell a huge variety of items including: duffel bags, rolling luggage, lunch boxes, nap mats, and so much more. They have some really cute stuff and I have my eye on the Sea Life quilted backpack for Blake.

Stephen Joseph has been in business since 1981 and produce high quality and products that are both fun and safe. Their passion is to create the cutest gifts in the industry, and I think they are right on target.


Stephen Joseph Gifts was nice enough to send Wyatt their GoGo Bag in Guitar. It is the perfect size backpack for preschool. Here Wyatt is showing off his new bag.


I was worried how Wyatt would feel about not actually picking out his backpack, but he thought his new bag was "so cool". His favorite features were the stars and flames. This bag was definitely a hit at our house!

Give Stephen Joseph Gifts a look, I am sure you will find something that you absolutely NEED.

Review: Post Honey Nut Shredded Wheat

I must admit that some nights I am just to tired to cook. We call these our "fend for" nights, which means you find whatever you can and that is your dinner. Don't worry, I make sure the kids are fed.LOL But, these are the nights that hubby and I usually eat cereal for dinner. So, we are always on the lookout for healthy, but yummy options.

Post Honey Nut Shredded Wheat definitely fills the bill. I think my husband ate the whole box within a couple of days. So, I know that it got his seal of approval.LOL This cereal combines the taste of honey and almonds for a delicious treat, while being an excellent source of whole grain and fiber.

To make you feel even better about eating Post Shredded Wheat Cereals, they have formed a partnership with Feeding America called Bowls of Hope. Feeding America is the nation's largest
domestic hunger relief charity and Post wants to help by supplying a balanced breakfast to struggling Americans. Post will do help by donating one bowl of cereal for every box of Post Shredded Wheat purchased, up to 15 million bowls! That is a whole lot of cereal.

I can't think of a better way to eat healthy and help out others, all while enjoying a tasty bowl of cereal. So, next time you are in the cereal aisle, pick up a box of Post Shredded Wheat and help out someone in need.

Review: Ufadili

Usually when I buy clothes for my boys, all I get is a garment, but what if what I bought did more. Shopping at Ufadili does the more. Their vision is to offer adorable clothes, that teach your children different languages, share interesting facts, and give 30% of all purchases to charity.

Ufadili offers clothing for boys, girls, and women. All of their clothing is made using 100% cotton and under fair trade. The tees feature an animal with the name of that animal in a different language. The packaging of all products are made from 100% recycled materials and is super cute. These tees come ready for gifting and even include Giving Tags, which have a learining side that gives the design's translation in 5 different languages and shares interesting facts about the design.

Ufadili was nice enough to send Blake a raglan tee in the blue marlin print. Here is is sporting it:

Let me just say that I fell in love with the packaging right away! Blake did too, as he tried to eat the box.LOL Then I took the tee out the box and was impressed with the quality. I think this is a super cute tee and love the concept of learning different languages.

Whether you are shopping for your own little ones or for a gift, check out what Ufadili has to offer. You might just find something special!

Review: POM Wonderful Juice

For those of you who haven't heard, POM Wonderful Juice is packed full of good things. It is made from pomegranates, which have super high levels of antioxidants. These antioxidants help protect your body from free radicals. POM juice has also been shown to improve cardiovascular function and helps keep a healty prostate.

It's great to have be able to drink something that is so great for your body, but how does it taste? Well, POM Wonderful was nice enough to send my family some to try. We received the 100% POM juice, and I did find that it was not as sweet as other juices. My husband found that it left a slightly bitter after taste, but that did not stop him from drinking more than one bottle. Wyatt, on the other hand, loved it. He drank at least 5 bottles and continued asking for it after we ran out.

POM does come in a variety of flavors including, blueberry, cherry, mango, and tangerine blends. I would be very interested in trying these. And, I would definately purchase this as a juice alternative for Wyatt. They also offer POM tea variations and I love tea, so I will be on the lookout for these.

If you are not a huge fan of the flavor, but still want to work POM into your diet, check out their recipe section. When you buy pomegranate juice, be sure to look for POM Wonderful!

You're Invited to a Twitter Party with TJ Maxx and Marshalls!

Now that school is about to start, it is time to get ready. And, to help you do that I am hosting a Back to School Party with 7 other cool blogs including:

Life Starring the Kids and Me
Momstart
Blessings Abound Mommy
Experimental Mommy
As They Grow Up
The Shopping Mama
3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires

To help us kick this party off right, TJ Maxx and Marshalls are sponsoring a twitter party. The Party will be held on August 2 from 6-8pm central time. If you want to participate, we will be using #MaxxMarshallsB2S

The Twitter Party Prizes will be :

1- $25 Gift Cardto Marshalls
1- $25 Gift Card to TJ Maxx
1- $250 Gift Card to Marshalls

Be sure to Sign up with your twitter tag in the linky below so we can follow you!

Wordless Wednesday: I Feel So Loved

After being away at BlogHer for 4 days, this is what I came home to:

Giveaway: Hannah Montana 3 Soundtrack CLOSED

Every little girl I know totally loves Hannah, and I can even see why. I was surprised to find out that even Wyatt was a fan. He was singing one of her new songs the other day.

Disney recently released The Hannah Montana 3 Soundtrack. The new album features songs from the hit TV series includes guest appearances by Corbin Bleu, David Archuleta and Mitchel Musso. The album consists of 14 tracks and is available on iTunes.




Listen to "He Could Be The One" , which is a track off the new album.

He Could Be The One - Hannah Montana

I have a copy of the new album for one lucky reader. To enter, just follow the simple rules below.

How to Enter:
1) Tell me who is the Hannah fan in your life.

Additional Entries: (please leave a separate entry for each)
2) Subscribe to my blog.
3) Favorite me in technorati.
4) Follow me on twitter (whatmommiesneed) and tweet about this giveaway.
5) Blog about this giveaway and link back here to http://www.whatmommiesneed.com/
6) Put my button on your sidebar.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on August 11th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to North American residents only.
You Must Leave a Valid E-mail Address to be eligible.

Review: Piggy Paint

While I am the mother of two boys, I have 5 nieces, which give me the excuse to buy girly things. Thank goodness my nieces are okay with this. LOL So, when I first heard of Piggy Paint, I knew I had to get some for them.

Piggy Paint is a non-toxic fingernail polish which was designed especially for little girls. They are free of odors and contain only natural ingredients. They also offer an acetone free nail polish remover, which is as natural as the paints they offer. Piggy Paint comes in a variety of colors and has some great gift packs available.

Here is my niece showing off her freshly painted nails, since Piggy Paint was nice enough to send us a bottle of Dandelion Dance to try.

I found that the polish was easy to apply and dried quickly. The polish remover worked really well and left no odors behind. I have purchased Piggy Paint in the past for a gift and would definately do so again.

Do you know some little girl that would love to try Piggy Paint? Well, now is your chance to get some at a great price. Piggy Paint has offered my readers a 15% discount, which is valid until August 31, 2009. All you have to do is enter the code COOL15L when you checkout. All orders over $25 will also receive free domestic shipping. What a great way to stock up on classmate gifts and stocking stuffers!

Review: Summer Bridge Activities

Okay, so Wyatt goes back to school in 3 weeks and he has spent all summer having fun. While I believe that he should enjoy his summer, I want to make sure that he is ready to go back to school. I have been able to do this thanks to Summer Bridge Activities and their great workbook.

It has been shown in studies that students will experience learning loss when they are not engaged in educational activities. For me, this means that I have to find a happy medium for summertime, where Wyatt is having fun while being educated. I found that the workbooks offered by Summer Bridge Activities was a great solution for our family.

The goal of Summer Bridge Activities is to help parents keep children, in grades Pre-K through 8th, active and learning during the summer. Their workbooks offer daily activities in reading, writing, mathematics, and language arts with bonus activities in science and geography for grades Pre-K through 8th. Exciting activities, full-color flash cards, incentive contract calendars to keep kids motivated and, a certificate of completion, are all the things that make learning fun for kids.

Summer Bridge Activities was nice enough to send Wyatt a workbook to try. Here he is working on his shapes.

It was great to see Wyatt having fun with his workbook and I love knowing he will be ready when school starts!

If you kids need a refresher before school starts back, consider getting them a Summer Bridge Activities' Workbook. They are available at Barnes and Noble stores or online from Carson Dellosa and retail for under $15.00, so they will not break the bank.

I Survived BlogHer!

Okay, I am home and completely exhausted, but I survived! I would like to say a HUGE Thank You to my sponsors: Skin Free, Misikko, and New Native without them I would not have made it.

I know I was not around much last week and I am sorry. I was extremely busy getting ready to leave and promise to make up for it this week.

So, thanks again to my sponsors and all my friends that helped make this a great experience for me.

Winners:

Congrats to all the winners!!

Chic Buds
#139 Rajee

Suzie's Confections
#77 amanda

YoBaby Yogurt

#21 Kim

Please claim your prize within 72 hours!

Thanks to all who entered.

Preparing for BlogHer

So, I am getting ready to leave for BlogHer on Thursday!! I am very excited! But, before I can leave I have to make sure that my sweet husband is ready for BlogHer.LOL

This weekend I went shopping and stocked up on everything that he could possibly need. I am now assured that he will not run out of diapers, wipes, formula, food, or toilet paper. There is now no excuse for my kids not to be clean and fed while I am gone.

I have even made lists of what each kid needs to have packed in their bags when he drops them off in the morning at camp and day care. I have all their clothes washed and ready to go.

Why is it that when I leave town I make sure all these things are done, but when he goes somewhere all he has to do is kiss everyone good-bye?

Now all I have to do is pack. That should only take me like 3 hours, right?

Review and Giveaway: Tee-Juice Markers CLOSED

My son is at that age now where he is asking if his friends can come over to play. I love having his friends over, it gives me a break.LOL But, as any mom knows, they tend to get bored after about 30 minutes, and living in South Louisiana, we can only play outside for so long. This leaves me with having to entertain two boys, which can be quite a task.

Thanks to Tee Juice markers, the boys not only had fun, but I was totally the "cool mom". Tee Juice are high performance fabric markers that work not only on tees, but almost any fabric whether they are natural or synthetic.
Tee Juice markers are available in three different sizes: fine, medium, and broad tipped. All tips are available in a variety of eight colors. Tee Juice markers are manufactured by Jaquard Products, who have been in the business of paints and dyes for professional artists for 30 years.

Tee Juice was nice enough to send us an assortment pack of different sizes and colors. Here is a picture of Wyatt designing his super hero shirt. It is Wolverine, in case you couldn't tell.LOL

Wyatt loved making his own shirt, and I found he did the best with the broad tipped. I washed his shirt without setting and found that it faded some, but the colors were still vibrant. I read that to set the colors, just iron on the cotton setting for 2-3 minutes. Wyatt and his friend had a really great time using these markers.

Tee Juice is a great way to let kids be creative! I think they would make a great gift and you could always package them with a tee or pillow case.

Tee Juice has offered one lucky reader an assortment pack of their very own. All you have to do is follow the rules below.

How to Enter:
1) Visit Jaquard Products and tell me which color marker your little one would want.

Additional Entries: (please leave a separate entry for each)
2) Subscribe to my blog.
3) Favorite me in technorati.
4) Follow me on twitter (whatmommiesneed) and tweet about this giveaway.
5) Blog about this giveaway and link back here to http://www.whatmommiesneed.com/
6) Put my button on your sidebar.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on August 2nd. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to North American residents only.

You Must Leave a Valid E-mail Address to be eligible.

Slim Perfect Offers an Awesome Promotion

You all know how much I love my Slim Perfect swim wear, so I am really excited to share this news with you!! Slim Perfect is offering to the public a 50% off discount code to use on all their already reduced prices! This is such an amazing offer, you will look and feel great and you can save money while doing so.

Slim Perfect was even featured in O Magazine at www.Oprah.com titled "Best Bathing Suit for Any Body (Yes, We Mean Yours)" as "Best Brands" for "Sizes 12 & Up" and "To Take Inches Off." You can read about my Slim Perfect experience here: http://www.whatmommiesneed.com/2009/05/review-and-giveaway-slim-perfect.html

Alright here is what you really want, but hurry and act now because this deal ends August 1st, 2009! All you have to do to save is enter the promo code "BlogHer" when you check out to get 50% off. What are you waiting for? Get on over to Slim Perfect and get out on the pool or beach with your confidence!

Review: Carolina Pad

In case you all have not figured it out yet, I am a huge nerd. Its okay, I have come to terms with this. LOL When I was the little girl who couldn't wait to go shopping for my school supplies, especially for my Trapper Keeper. I can honestly say that when I received a huge box of fun goodies from Carolina Pad, that excitement I used to feel as a little girl came back.

Their stuff is so super cool that I wanted to go back to school. Their patterns are so cute that they have been used on hit shows like 90210, Greek, and Gossip Girl! Carolina Pad has been around since 1945 and offers supplies for school, office, and arts and craft products featuring exceptional quality and design. When a company has been around that long, you know they have to be doing something right.

Here is a picture of the products I got to try out.

The patterns were awesome and colorful. I loved that the notebook had pockets inside. I plan on using some of these while I am at BlogHer next week, because they are just as functional as they are cute.

Seriously, what little girl would not like to have some of these for school supplies? Check out all the choices at Carolina Pad and get your little ones ready to learn with their fun and practical gear. I don't know any better way to get your kids excited about heading back to school than getting some fun new supplies that they can't wait to try and show off to their friends.

Review and Giveaway: Hatley Clothing CLOSED

Finding cute boy clothes tends to be a daunting task. Finding cute boys clothes that Wyatt actually wants to wear is nearly impossible. I had been shopping for his summer clothes when I came across Hatley.

Hatley has a selection of clothes for the whole family. And, they had the some adorable swim wear, pjs, and boxers for my boys. I love the cute sayings on the men's boxers and tees.

Hatley was nice enough to send Wyatt a pair of their Shark Beach swim trunks to try out. Here is a picture of him showing them off.

As you can see, he really loves them. His favorite part is the scuba diver in the print. I was really impressed with the quality of these swim trunks. The pockets velcro shut and the tie actually goes through the entire waist band, which means that his trunks stay put. I found that the swim trunks ran true to size.

Want some new swim wear for your little one? Well, lucky for you Hatley has offered one reader the kids swimsuit of their choice. To win yours, just follow the rules below.

How to Enter:
1) Visit Hatley and tell me which swimsuit your little one would want.

Additional Entries: (please leave a separate entry for each)
2) Subscribe to my blog.
3) Favorite me in technorati.
4) Follow me on twitter (whatmommiesneed) and tweet about this giveaway.
5) Blog about this giveaway and link back here to http://www.whatmommiesneed.com/
6) Put my button on your sidebar.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on July 28th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to North American residents only.
You Must Leave a Valid E-mail Address to be eligible.

Wordless Wednesday: Tigers Need Sleep, Too

This picture is from our last trip to Disney World, which was over a year ago now. Wyatt had his face painted like a tiger on his 3rd birthday and he would fall asleep on the bus every night. We want to go back so bad.

Giveaway: Domino's Pizza CLOSED

Domino's Pizza has just earned a few points in my book due to their new "green" advertising campaign. They have partenered with Green Graffiti which is an environmentally friendly form of outdoor advertising.

Here is a little about the new Domino's campaign from their website: "Domino's Pizza is launching an environmentally-friendly and potentially controversial marketing campaign with a unique twist to promote its Domino’s American Legends specialty pizzas. In an overnight secret mission, 220 Domino's Pizza logos have been strategically "blasted" onto sidewalks in three legendary American cities (Los Angeles, Philadelphia and New York City) with the help of a high-pressure water sprayer. "



So, Green Graffiti makes an advertisement by cleaning the ground, and the account for their water used. It is a new innovative way to get the word out, without leaving behind a carbon footprint.


To celebrate this campaign to introduce Domino's new American Legends Pizza, the first 250 people to email pr@dominos.com and submit a photo of them with a GreenGraffiti sidewalk Domino’s logo will receive a $15 Domino’s gift card, good for a Domino’s American Legends pizza.
But, be quick, because this contest ends July 17th.


How cool is that!! Good for the environment and yummy, too.


Domino's is also offering one lucky What Mommies Need's reader a $10 gift card. To win this tasty prize, just follow the rules below.

How to Enter:
1) Visit Domino's Pizza and tell me which American Legends Pizza you want to try.


Additional Entries: (please leave a separate entry for each)
2) Subscribe to my blog.
3) Favorite me in technorati.
4) Follow me on twitter (whatmommiesneed) and tweet about this giveaway.
5) Blog about this giveaway and link back here to http://www.whatmommiesneed.com/
6) Put my button on your sidebar.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on July 20th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to North American residents only.

You Must Leave a Valid E-mail Address to be eligible.

Giveaway: Feed the Pig CLOSED

One of the perks of being a mom blogger is sharing my life and thoughts with my readers. When I first started blogging I was doing a series called Money Savvy Mondays, where I would give money saving tips and ideas. I have told you before that I live on a monthly budget. My husband and I started this about 3 years ago, when we just could not figure out where our money went and why we had nothing left at the end of the month.


I just got asked to share with my reader a new site called Feed the Pig. After checking it out, I knew it was something that could be of use to everyone. If you don't have a savings now, you might want to get working on one. This site gives you tools to help you see how to save and how it is so totally worth it to do so.


In these tough economic times, people are starting to see that it is necessary to have some funds to fall back on. Feed the Pig encourages yound adults to ensure a solid financial future by giving them easy to follow tips on how to build their savings. In a study done, it was shown that my age group (low 30s) was carrying 70 cents of debt for every dollar of assets owned. That is scary!!!


It is work to save. You will have to tell yourself no a lot, but it will be worth it in the end. I like knowing that I have money to fall back on if we need. Give it a try, what do you have to lose.


To help you remember to save, Feed the Pig has offered two lucky readers a prize pack consisting of: a piggy bank, stress ball (money can be so stressful), key chain, and a weepul (I had to google this one, LOL, it is the little fuzzy thing with googley eyes and sticky feet). I think of the prize pack as a way to keep myself in check. Put away your extra change in the bank and then in a couple of months take it to the bank!


If you would like to win your very own Feed the Pig prize pack, just enter below.


How to Enter:
1) Visit Feed the Pig and tell me anything that you learned.


Additional Entries: (please leave a separate entry for each)
2) Subscribe to my blog.
3) Favorite me in technorati.
4) Follow me on twitter (whatmommiesneed) and tweet about this giveaway.
5) Blog about this giveaway and link back here to http://www.whatmommiesneed.com/
6) Put my button on your sidebar.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on July 20th. Prizes not claimed in 72 hours will be forfeited. Open to North American residents only.
You Must Leave a Valid E-mail Address to be eligible.

Review: Windex All-in-One

I must be totally honest with you all, I don't do windows. I am a clean fanatic, but I have never been one to worry about the windows, especially the outside. Don't worry though, my husband does them for me.LOL

Then came the new Windex All-in-One Outdoor cleaning system. This system is easy to use and even a little fun, well as fun as cleaning windows can be. It is an easy 3 step system. All you have to do is hose down the windows, wipe them with the cleaning pad, and rinse. The cleaning pad is attached to a telescopic pole which makes reaching the high windows a breeze.

Here is a picture of my windows after I cleaned them. The right window is cleaned and the left is not.

I found the system easy to use and it did leave a streak free shine. I might actually clean the windows now.LOL My husband might actually like this cleaning system more than me.

If you are looking to try out this new cleaning system, the starter kit includes: 1 cleaning head, 1 handle, 4 pole sections, and 1 cleaning pad which cleans 20 windows. This kit can be purchased for just $14.99 and can be found anywheres from Target and Home Depot to your local grocery store. Refill packs of 2 cleaning pads retail for $4.99.

Planning Vacation on a Budget

I have learned in the last couple of years that vacationing is much more enjoyable when you know that it is paid for before you leave. I find that I am able to relax more and even tend to splurge more on my family. The best way that I have found to do this is with family vacation budgeting.

By using a family vacation budget, you can plan a vacation that will leave you with good memories instead of debt. This road map will help you plan a vacation that won’t break the budget. One site that offers an easy to use planner is Consolidated Credit Counseling Services. This budget starts with deciding which kind of vacation you want to plan and then helps you to start saving for you trip. They even offer a planning worksheet.

Consolidated Credit is a one stop debt solution center. They specialize in debt consolidation and credit counseling. Now is the time to get your finances in order! If you feel like you could use a little help with your finances, take a look at their site, they have a lot of great resources available.

Using a budget to plan your vacation may seem like a bunch of work, but I guarantee that you will find it worth it in the end.