Coffee Anyone?- New Giveaway!!!!

• Okay so I'll let you in on a little secret. It is nearly 11:00 p.m. the night before Thanksgiving, I have 20 people coming over for dinner tomorrow, my house is a mess, not even a single pie has been baked and I just ran into my office to get the brining recipe for the turkey. Lucky for you I got side tracked by the computer!
  
  I say lucky for you 'cause I have an awesome giveaway to share with everyone. Here is where you should be imagining a drum roll.......
  
  The giveaway is for a Keurig Platinum Brewer! This brewer's features include 5 cup sizes (4 oz, 6 oz, 8 oz, 10oz and 12 oz), a removable 60 oz. reservoir,fully programable features, blue backlit display, quiet brew technology and an award winning design. Keurig Brewers use single use K-Cups to brew some of the best coffee I have ever had. There is also reusable k-cup filter basket available for purchase in case you have a specific type of coffee not available in single use K-cups.
  
  Although I love to cook making coffe has never been a strong point for me. No matter what coffe pot, coffee or water I used it was never good. This meant that whenever Justin or I wanted coffee we would have to run out to our local coffe shop or wait until we were at work to get a cup. My coffee is so seriously bad that when we had some contractors siding our house in the middle of winter they kindly refused my coffee after just one cup. This is no longer a problem for me now that we have our own Keurig Brewer because it is totally fool proof! Making coffe is as simple as filling the reservoir with water, turning one the machine so it heats, popping in a K-Cup and pressing a button. Within a minute a fresh cup of delicious coffee is not in my hot little hands! There are many different types of coffee, tea and hot chocolate that you can choose from including Fair Trade coffee on Keurig's website or you can purchase your K-cups wherever the Brewers are sold. I am able to pruchase them at Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, B.J.'s and some of the better food stores in my area.
  
  Looking for details on how to win your own Keurig Platinum Brewer along with an 18 K-cup variety? You have two chances to win.



• Go to Keurig's website, check out all of their different coffee, tea and hot chocolate and then post a comment about what you would like to try first if you win the brewer. Make sure to use a sepcific coffee, tea or hot chocolate name so I know that you went to the site!



• Receive a second entry by blogging about this giveaway on your blog with a link back to me and a second comment letting me know you did so.

It is seriously that easy! Please make sure to include your email address so I can reach you if you win. This contest ends Wednesday, December 3, 2008. The winner has 3 days to contact me. If he/she doesn't I will randomly select a different winner.

Good luck to everyone and have a great holiday season! Now it is seriously time to brine a turkey!

In Case You Wanted To Take A Look

Remember the wedding Justin, Madison and I were in a few months ago? The bride and groom sent us a link to their online photo album and were kind enough to let me share. Enjoy the pictures!

P.S. Don't forget I was 8 weeks postpartum (YIKES!!!)

Bloggy Giveaways

5 Minutes for Mom has gotten into the Chrsitmas spirit with loads of great giveaways. Be sure to stop by and check them out!

Teething Already?

I didn't want to believe after all Stella just turned 4 months yesterday but it looks like we have a teething infant on our hands. Stella has been a drooly, goobery mess for a few weeks now. I kept insisting it was not teething. After all Madison didn't cut her first two teeth until she was over 6 months. I know, I know they are not the same baby and I have to quit comparing them but that is another post for another time. Sure enough when I looked into my youngest daughter's mouth there were two little teeth buds just below the surface of the skin. Teeth already!

Thank goodness my Dr. Bloom's Chewable Jewelry arrived last week just in time for Chompfest 2008 'cause without it Stella's fists may have been chewed raw by now. The jewelry was created by Dr. Helen Bloom who is both a mom and a dentist. It is not only fun to wear but super convenient for busy moms looking for something for their babies to chomp on.

The jewelry is

• Dentist Created and Endorsed
• BPA, PVC, Phthalate Free
• Latex and Lead Free
• Dishwasher Safe
• and it comes in great colors too. We have the Emerald Circle Slide Pendent and Bracelet. Did I mention that I love it? With all of my friends either just having had a baby or expecting I know what many of them will be getting as gifts.

I've got a great deal for all of my readers too. Go to http://www.chewablejewels.com/ and shop to your heart is content. At checkout use the code WOMM and receive 10% off your entire order. The offer expires 12-20-08. Don't you just love deals? There is no limit on how many times you use this code from now until December 20th either. That means that if you buy yourself a set and love it (I know you will) you can go back and purchase more for family and friends as gifts or different colors for yourself.

Happy Shopping!

Wordless Wednesday

Spending every last moment before winter that we can outside!

There is a lesson to be learned here...

and it is not that my daughter is a slob. I already knew that! It is also not that I have neglected this room for far too long 'cause I already knew that too!



The lessons that I do hope to teach Madison today as we tackle this disaster is

• She is now a big girl and it is now time to take care of her things.


• There are less fortunate children in this world and we need to share with them.

I've already started discussing these two ideas with her. She seems to get the taking care of the toys part is is excited to do so. I am a realist though and know that it is not going to miraculously happen over night. But one can hope right?

It is the second concept of giving some toys away that I am having difficult with. We talked about the fact that Santa will be coming soon and how we have to make room for new things. We've also talked about the less fortunate children and how they would be so happy to get a toy even if it is something we don't play with anymore. Madison's response was "but I play with all of my toys and they would be sad if they thought I didn't like them anymore". Gotta be honest here the toys with feelings thing threw me and it took a few moments for me to respond with "They also get sad when they aren't played with and would love to go to a new home where they are the center of attention".

I've dropped the topic until after nap time but by the end of the day there will be toys that are finding a new home. They will not only be leaving our home but Madison will be the one to select them. Yes life would be easier if I just went through her things while she was asleep. If I did that though how would she learn that we need to help others? I'm sure there will be tears involved after all she is the type of kid that gets upset when I throw out pamphlets handed out at our door by strangers from certain religions. I'll keep you posted. Wish me luck!

Making The Pilgrimage.

Nope not to some holy land but to Disney World. Madison is going to be four in a few months and loves, loves, loves all things Disney. I really wanted to go even before having kids and Justin had never been so we've decided that next year's vacation will be a fun filled, magically spectacular week in Disney World.

What I didn't realize was how much goes into the planning of a trip like this. We need to decide whether to go during off or peak season, which of the 27 resorts to stay at, whether or not to get park hopper passes and if we want to go with a meal plan. This is just a few of the descisions that we need to make.

Ultimately we will be booking with a travel agent but before contacting one I would love to get any advice from anyone willing to share. Shared experiences (good, bad or ugly), feelings towards hotels, parks, restaurants. Anything will help. So far this is what I know (and it is not much)

• We are thinking sometime in May because older kids are in school but the weather is still nice.
• Staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It is not completely, outrageously priced, Madison loves Animals and it has regular restaurants in it (not just fast food)
• Going for a week. There is a lot to see and I think by going for a week we can take breaks here and there instead of cramming everything into 4 days.
• Park Hopper just means we can go to more than one park in a day

...and that is about it. Obviously I need lots of help. We are trying to do this trip on a budget too so any money saving tips, tricks or hints would be awesome. Of course if anyone from Disney is reading this post and would like a review done I would not be above this for some extra vacation perks ;>

So hit me with whatever you've got people! Thanks!

'Tis The Season For The Flu

Around this time of the year the flu starts getting talked about quite a bit. Whether it is flu shots or outbreaks you are bound to hear about the flu. Here in New Jersey all children who are in some type of school setting public, private or day care are now required by law to receive a yearly flu vaccination. This is to keep school outbreaks down to a minimum. Madison has already received her shot and Justin and I are about to. Justin and I have never gotten them before but Stella is too young to get one so we are doing it to decrease her chances.
Google has also jumped on the flu bandwagon with their new flu tracker. According to Google they are able to track a flu outbreak two weeks earlier than any other method because they have found that "certain search terms are good indicators of flu activity". It is pretty cool just go to their flu tracker site, click on your state and see if the flu activity is minimal, low, moderate, high or intense. Right now NJ has low activity but several states are showing moderate activity which I'm sure is just a sign of things to come.

There is my sign

Have you ever been going about your business when it suddenly hits you that your are "such a parent"? It happened to me over the weekend. Justin and I went to go see the new movie "Role Models". I am a movie addict but am embarrassed to say that the last movie with over a PG rating that I saw in a theatre was "Meet the Fockers". Yep it has been nearly four years since my last theatre viewed adult movie. Yikes! Where did the time go? The movie was hysterical and just what I was in the mood for. A comedy albeit a little raunchier than expected that did not require much brain function to understand. We laughed through the whole movie almost to the point of hysterics at times.


The "I am such a parent" moment came on the way out of the theatre when Justin and I were rehashing the details that had us rolling. Just about everything that the 12 year old actor Bobb'E J. Thompson said in his role as Ronnie was funny. As a parent though I couldn't imagine about 95% of what came out of his mouth coming out of one of my daughters. He dropped the "F bomb" countless numbers of times throughout the movie and had a discussion about "Boobies" with Sean William Scott just to name a few examples. Prior to kids I probably wouldn't have even given a second thought to what was said, but times they have changed!

Were we so offended that we got up and left the movie? No, we are adults and knew what we were going to be seeing. I just questioned as a parent what would allow a person to let their child say what was said? The answer of course is money. I realize money gets most of what is wrong in this world to happen. As a mother myself I know that there is no amount of money that would make me feel okay about letting one of my daughters act in a role like this. Maybe when they are older or if they show a desire to get into acting I'll fell differently but in this case I really doubt it.

I would love to hear your thoughts if you have seen the movie or any of your "I am such a parent" moments. Feel free to share!

A New DVD From Sesame Street

I am pretty picky about what I allow Madison to watch on television. Often times I opt for a DVD that way I know exactly what she is watching, how long she'll be watching for and that I won't be hearing "Mommy I want that!" because of all the toy commercials on during children's shows. As you can imagine this leads to us watching the same DVDs over and over and over again. This is just one reason why I was so excited to receive the new Sesame Street movie "Abby in Wonderland"!

Abby Cadabby debuted as a Sesame Street puppet in 2006. She is an adorable fairy whose name is a play on the magic word Abracadabra. Her fluffy pink pigtails, fairy wings and magic wand were an instant hit with my fairy and princess loving Madison. This meant that putting our new movie "Abby in Wonderland" into the movie rotation wasn't a hard sell.

In the movie Abby wishes she could have her own fairy tale. She drifts off to sleep and wakes up much like Alice does in the Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland". While in Wonderland she goes on all sorts of adventures and runs into some of Sesame Streets beloved classic characters such as Cookie Monster who plays the Cheshire Cookie Cat and Grover as the Mad Hatter. In the end she wakes up and decides that it is okay to not be an adult yet and that she can wait to have her own fairy tale. No Sesame Street movie would be complete without a few new songs for your little one to sing along too and this movie does not disappoint.

To be honest I was never a fan of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" but I can watch this one over and over again. It is a good thing too because I have!

Wordless Wednesday- A Day Late

Election Day

P.S. If you don't vote don't complain! (I mean that in the nicest possible way!)