The Mom Buzz FLOR Giveaway.

The Mom Buzz is having a giveaway to win a 5×7 Patch Me If You Can – Spicy FLOR rug! I just love the vibrant colors in this rug. You can’t win it if you don’t enter so hurry over to the Mom Buzz and tell her what your favorite FLOR rug is. Extra entries are available.

Contest ends on March 6th

Tweet Tweet

For the longest time I would see this cute little bird hovering around different blogs but had no inkling as to why it was there and what purpose it served. I noticed different individuals on contest boards or blogs stating they tweeted on twitter about the giveaway and then gained an extra entry into the drawing pool. I decided I wanted to get to know this little bird better and find out why everyone was “tweeting” and what exactly a tweet consisted of.

I clicked on the little bird on one of the other Mom blogs and signed up to be a member on Twitter a little over a month ago. I began to check the place out and noticed that it reminded me of a sort of peer to peer instant messaging board. Individuals could promote their products, gain blog traffic by tweeting about their posts, or just chit chat about what ever they liked at the moment. It seemed pretty basic until I realized it was so much more!

What technically is Twitter?

Twitter is a social networking service that allows its members to send and receive other users updates which are known as Tweets. You can send a short message up to 140 characters in length to your friends or followers letting them know “What are you doing?”

There are several different Twitter applications and tools that can be used to make your Twitter experience more beneficial. I have found some that really come in handy when time is an issue. A few of my favorites are;

Your Twitter Karma

This is a flash application that breaks down all your friends and followers in a neat format. I have to admit I was a little hesitant at first to use Your Twitter Karma since you had to sign into the site giving your Twitter username and password but I have had no problems, as of yet. After signing in you click the “WHACK” button and it displays a list of all your friends and followers from Twitter. You then have the option to see all friends and followers, who is just following you, who is a mutual follow, or who you are just following. You can then either check individually, or check all to bulk follow or unfollow. I found this to be a great time saver. The next time you sign into Twitter it has been updated with any changes you made at Your Twitter Karma.

Twubble

Twubble looks at all your Twitter friends and then gives you a list of suggested Twitter users to follow. It does sometimes contain already individuals you are following but you have the option of asking to search more to find new Twitters you may want to follow. Great and fast way to expand your Twitter account.

Then there is Qwitter.

I have some mixed feelings of using Qwitter but if you really are curious as to who unfollowed you it is a perfect way of finding out. It sends you an email notification when ever your account loses a follower. It actually gives the members name and the last tweet you posted before the person unfollowed. Sometimes its just best not to know but if you must, you can use Qwitter.

Twitterer Traits

During my use of Twitter I have already noticed some stereotypical traits of some users in Twitterland. I’m sure if you use Twitter long enough you will start to notice this yourself.

The Blog Snob Twitterer

This is the Twitterer that you follow from a possible blog and they don’t follow you back. Then you will notice during their updates they only talk to other well known high rated blog owners.

The Schizo Twitterer

This Twitterer likes to follow you and then when you follow back they quickly unfollow you. I’m not sure what the purpose for this action is yet.

The Tycoon Twitterer

Just look at how many followers they have which is usually way over the 20,000 mark. They tend to gain followers quickly and are usually in some marketing field.

The Jock Twitterer

The Twitter updates consist of fitness information and what they had for breakfast.

The Burn Out Twitterer

Remember the guy/gal in high school who skipped class to smoke a few cigarettes and down a few gulps from his pocket flask? This is that guy or girl.

The Strictly Business Twitterer

Their updates only consist of promoting their business or service.

The CelebrityTwitterer

WOW you can actually follow some celebrity members such as Britney Spears, Ashton Kutcher, and many others. They have 100,000+ followers and only follow a small few. You keep crossing your fingers they might follow you back! You can even follow President Obama!

The Green Twitterer

Updates are geared towards environmental awareness and green products.

The Wanna Be Popular Twitterer

This Twitterer don’t care what your updates are and will follow you to gain numbers in their Twitter account.

The Average Chit Chat Twitterer

Their updates consist of everything and anything.

The Sweepstakes Twitterer

They update only on contests and are primarily using Twitter to enter some sweeps.

I’m sure there are several other types of Twitterers out there I have forgot to mention but these are just a few that come to my immediate thoughts. All of them make up the diverse population of Twitter and make it a really fun an addicting place. My suggestions is to read a members updates before following them to spare yourself of some possible annoyance and offending language. Twitter can be used as an excellent marketing tool and a great way to connect if used responsibly. Tweet Tweet and have some fun!

Oh you might be thinking what kind of Twitterer am I? I guess you will just have to follow to find out!

Mom Generations Giveaway!

Mom Generations is giving away The Learning Tower by little Partners Inc! This is such a great item for your little kiddos and you have the chance to win it!

Winner will be chosen Thursday, February 26, @ 5:00pm ET

Win WebKinz Cotton Candy Bunny For Easter Giveaway!

Webkinz Reward System.

As a parent it is important to me to teach my children strong positive character traits. I try to encourage them to develop patience, self control, and excellent work ethics to help prepare them someday for adulthood. Keeping my daughter motivated to enthusiastically help with some small household chores and keeping her room tidy is not easy. She does extremely well in academics, which is wonderful, but falls short of simple tasks requested of her at home.

I had to find some way to persuade her to maintain to keep her room clean and willingly help me when asked so I developed a reward system. I felt the best way to do this was to find out what appealed to her most as a reward and then compensate her with it at the months end if she kept a positive behavior doing chores. When she told me she wanted a Webkinz every month I was a little hesitant on wanting to start a trend of another collectible stuffed animal craze. I went down the same path before with her obsession for TY babies and they ended up in a huge bag in the attic. Not to mention the pain of trying to find the animal that she wanted next because one of her friends had it and she felt she could not survive without it too. I made a decision to do some investigating on these little stuffed animals before agreeing to use this method and starting a whole new frenzy.

What exactly is a Webkinz? A Webkinz is a cute plush stuffed animal pet that was originally released by The Ganz company back in April 2005. Each Webkinz has an attached 8 character unique code allowing the user to be able to also own a virtual version of the pet in the online Webkinz World. The Webkinz World is built up of a user being able to earn KinzCash from playing online games, adopting new pets, answering general knowledge questions, and completing several other fun tasks. Several of the Webkinz World tasks involve collecting recipes that are released for the players through cookbooks or TV Shows called The Secret Chef. The KinzCash can be used to purchase food and clothing for the virtual pet, and furniture to build a room for the pet. Just a few of the other features of the Webkinz World consist of

• Brushing your pets teeth, hair, and bathing
• Participate in the hourly events, which can earn you KinzCash, prizes and coupons
• The ability to create shows with the Webkinz Studio, plus enter to be chosen to appear on the Webkinz television.
• Invite a friend over to your house, where you can chat, play some board games and interact with other items.

They even have a monthly program called The Webkinz Pet of the Month which a specific pet is spotlighted and celebrated with special gifts and special events all month.

I agreed to my daughters wishes to use these cute little fury friends as a reward system. I figured not only can I use the stuffed animal but the computer time used to build her virtual pet world. More bang for the buck sounded like an excellent idea!

Win WebKinz Cotton Candy Bunny For Easter!

I have to make a quick little note to say that I do not speak on behalf of Webkinz or related to it in any way. Now with that being said and out of the way I decided I wanted to give away a cute little bunny WebKinz for Easter. The WebKinz Cotton Candy Bunny is a lovable cute plush pet that would be a perfect gift to place in your little one’s Easter basket. It is a seasonal WebKinz so it will be very hard to find after the holiday. Here is how you can enter to win it.

Leave a comment telling me how you choose to reward your child, or if you don’t have a child who you would like to give Cotton Candy Bunny to.

Please be sure to leave me an email so I can contact you if you win. A winner will be chosen at random via Random.org.

For Additional Entries

1.Mention the giveaway on your own blog linking back and leave an additional comment with a link to your post.

2.Place my button on your blog and then leave an additional comment with a link to the page where you put the button.(my daughter made this button for me!)

3. Follow me on Twitter and/or add me to your blog roll and leave a comment letting me know you did.(possible 2 additional entries)

4. Tweet on Twitter about the giveaway and leave an additional comment ( this can be done once per 24 hours to gain extra entries)

5. Subscribe to my feed.

The contest begins February 23 2:00 AM Eastern and ends March 15 11:59 PM.

Good luck!

Open to residents of the U.S. 18+

My Wonderful Walls.com.

BPA Free Bottles

What exactly is BPA?

BPA is the abbreviation for the ingredient Bisphenol-A. A chemical compound used to line the inside of various food containers and possibly the baby bottle you are using to nourish your little one. It is the building block for polycarbonate plastic and also used in the manufacturing of epoxy resins and other plastics.

What are possible affects of BPA?

I’m not a scientist or doctor but what I have gathered from my own personal research it can interfere with normal physical and behavioral development. BPA acts as an environmental estrogen and once it has been ingested it can disrupt normal hormone functions. The dangers of it can be more pronounced in children since they are still growing and developing at a fast pace. The effects of BPA on adults are less in comparison since our bodies and brains are already mature.

How is it ingested?

Bisphenol-A can leach into food from the protective coating of can foods, plastic baby bottles, and other consumer products by breaking down over time or from exposure to heat.

Conflicting Reports

I have read several conflicting reports that claim there is no real danger from BPA and the amount that is leached into food is so small that there is no real concern. They state BPA has been used for years and is tested to be safe.

My Job

My job as a parent is to protect my children from any dangers that I can. I’m not taking any chances with their health and development. I am going to avoid products that I know contain BPA by avoiding plastic containers showing the number 7 and switching to glass containers or BPA free plastics.

Ive listed below some baby bottles that claim to be BPA free.

ThinkBaby Bottles

Wee*Go Glass Bottle by BabyLife

Green to Grow Baby Bottles

Dr. Brown’s Natural Flow Standard Glass Bottles

Medela Baby Bottles

Playtex Drop-Ins Bottles

Evenflo Classic Glass Nurser Bottle

Gerber Clear View and Fashion Tints Nursers

SeaWorld Manta Mania Contest!

Lasagna Soup Review

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and sauté, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until the sausage is no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes. Drain any excess fat from the pot. Add the onions and sauté until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and sauté for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and sauté until the paste turns a rusty brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, the broth, and the bay leaves and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.
2. Add the pasta, then increase the heat to medium-high and boil the soup until the pasta is tender to the bite, following the time recommendations on the pasta package. Discard the bay leaves, then stir in the basil. If desired, season with salt and black pepper to taste.
3. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, the Parmesan, the 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and the pinch of pepper. To serve, place about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture in each bowl, sprinkle with some of the mozzarella, and ladle the soup on top. Makes about 13 cups.

ROSES A Poem by Kylie

7 SIMPLE STEPS

Well its that time of year again where I dread going into the stores and grocery shopping is more like playing dodge ball except the ball happens to be the nasty flu virus coming at me from the coughing, sneezing, flu infected individuals who are also shopping. If I hear someone cough or sneeze in the same isle as me, I fast dart my kids and self as far as possible from that area. If I could dress my children and myself in a biological chem suit and not look like a nut case I would!

Avoiding the stores and crowded areas are the best way to not come in contact with the nasty virus but becoming a hermit all season just isn’t practical or sensible. I still have to buy the groceries, attend school concerts, and maintain the household activities so becoming sick or letting the flu bed rid me is not an option.

There are some steps I can take to help avoid getting the flu, strengthen our immune systems to help our body’s fight the virus or recover faster from illness.

1. Get plenty of Vitamin A. Bacteria and Flu can be fought with Vitamin A and it has shown in several experiments conducted by the National Institutes of Health to enhance the immunological response of the body. It actually works by stimulating the body’ s own immunity system. Eating foods such as Spinach, Collards, Kale, Mixed vegetables, Turnip greens, Instant cooked and fortified ready to eat cereals are all great sources of the protective vitamin A.

2. Wash your hands frequently with hot soapy water for at least 20 seconds. Washing your hands helps prevent spreading the virus. Using paper towels to dry your hands can alleviate passing the virus on to others and also prevent those who are getting over it from becoming re-infected.

3. Exercise regularly. Exercising regularly, at least 30 minutes a day helps increase the body’s natural virus-killing cells.

4. Get plenty of sleep. Poor sleep lowers your immunity making you more vulnerable to infections. Most adults need between seven to eight hours of sleep a night. Older children and teens need more rest and should get between nine and 10 hours every night.

5. Avoid sugar. Sugar depresses the immune system. Try to maintain and control proper blood sugar by avoiding added sugar and highly refined starches such as pasta, rice, potatoes and breads.

6. Use saline nasal spray to keep your passages moist. Keeping your nostrils moist can help in warding off a cold and flu.

7. Eat Garlic. Garlic contains hundreds of minerals and nutrients that are beneficial to your body. It has powerful antibiotic, antiviral and anti fungal characteristics. Garlic has been found to be as effective as many antibiotics, without the dangerous side effects.

Hopefully taking these simple steps will combat the nasty viruses! If my children, husband or I do get attacked there is several homeopathic remedies for cold the flu and some great websites that offer information on to relieve the symptoms safely!.

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