Valentine's Day Giveaways

So I have found some cool Valentine's Day giveaways that I wanted to share with all of you:



At the Groschen Goblins, Bridgette has a ton of really cool giveaways this week:

A Heart Charm Bracelet from the Charm Factory

$25 Giftcard to Eden Fantasy

$40 E-Gift Certificate to Joy of Soap

Wholesale Keychains Giveaway

Organically Hatched - All Natural Gift Pack for Men



Life with 5 Monkeys and 1 Ape is also having a Valentine's Day giveaway this week. Here are some items that Brandi is giving away:

$25 Gift Certificate to Eden Fantasy
Just for Jack gift set from Organically Hatched
a heart key chain from Wholesale Keychain
a watch from Inexpensive Watches


Cupcakes & Corsets is giving away a gift basket of Valentine's treats from her etsy shop. Giveaway ends on 2/13.




Good luck and Happy Valentines Day!

Wordless Wednesday - My Monkey!

It's so funny how quickly boys learn to climb trees. Only a few months ago we were in Florida with only palm trees in our yard. The first time he saw a tree to climb up in Connecticut, he was in it...


For more Wordless Wednesday, head over here.

Golden Moon Tea Review

I have never been a coffee drinker - for some reason the smell of it just isn't all that appealing. After my second baby was born, I was severly sleep deprived, and needed something to get me going in the morning. And that is what started my tea drinking. But living in South Florida (where it is hot all year round!) I wasn't a very big tea drinker. It was basically only those mornings where I didn't think I would function without some caffeine. Now that we have moved up to Connecticut though (and I feel like it is freezing everyday!) I have definitely started to drink much more tea. There is nothing like a nice hot cup of tea on a cold day :)

I was very excited to have the opportunity to review some tea from Golden Moon Tea through the Product Review Place. Golden Moon Tea was founded in 1993 with the belief that tea is so much more than just a healthy, refreshing, good tasting drink. They offer a wide selection of high quality, loose-leaf tea as well as a wide assortment of tea accessories. Their website is also full of lots of valuable information related to tea. You can read about the history of tea, health benefits of tea, tea origins, brewing instructions, what types of tea to drink at different times of the day, or what types of food to eat with tea.

I was given the opportunity to select sample sizes for 5 of their teas. It was hard for me to decide which 5 to review because there were so many options (and so many of them sounded delicious). The 5 that I ended up choosing were: Tippy Earl Grey, White Tea, Kashmiri Chai, White Ginger and Vanilla Jasmine. All of them were delicious!

I had a cup of the Tippy Earl Grey with breakfast one morning and was very pleased with the flavor. I thought that this tea was much more flavorful than some of the Earl Grey teas I have purchased from my local grocery store.

The White Tea I drank one afternoon while I had my 2 girls napping. My son and I decided to relax and watch a movie - so this was a perfect cup of tea to warm up and relax in the middle of the afternoon.

I LOVE Chai tea! Their Kashmiri Chai was delicious! It was the perfect amount of spice and I thoroughly enjoyed it :)

I tried the White Ginger tea while I was sick. There was one day where my stomach was not feeling well and I didn't have much appetite for anything. This tea was very tasty - it had a sweet flavor that is hard to describe. I will say that my stomach felt more settled after drinking this.

I made myself a cup of the Vanilla Jasmine tea one day after dinner. I was having a sweet tooth and I thought that this might keep me from diving into my secret stash of chocolate! This tea had a different taste than most others that I have tried, but I did enjoy it. I think I made a good decision to try it after dinner one night - because it is the perfect tea to drink to satisfy a sweet tooth.

If you love a good cup of tea, I would definitely recommend stopping by Golden Moon Tea and purchasing some to try yourself. They offer sample sizes for all their tea (and the sample sizes are only 99 cents!). You can't go wrong picking up a few samples to find out which is your favorite. I will definitely be heading back to Golden Moon Tea to pick up some more tea for myself!



Disclaimer: I was not compensated to do this product review. Golden Moon Tea provided me with sample sizes of their tea. All opinions posted here are my own.

Cool Giveaways This Week

Here are some cool giveaways I've come across this week that I wanted to share:

At Cake Mom, you can enter to win a copy of Rachel Ray's Big Orange Book - giveaway ends on 1/31.

A Cake Mom is also giving away a coupon for 1 free Immaculate Refrigerated Dough product - giveaway ends on 2/3.


A Frugal Life is giving away a free bottle of Coombs Maple Syrup - giveaway ends on 1/26.


Ladybugs and Tonka Trucks is giving away SmartMom jewelry - giveaway ends on 1/27.


Ladybugs and Tonka Trucks is giving away a scarf from Affordable Scarves - giveaway ends on 1/25.


Life with 5 Monkeys and 1 Ape is giving away a $25 gift card to Ecostore USA - giveaway ends on 2/1.


Theta Mom has 2 really cool giveaways going on right now. The first one is for a bra bag and panty pack from The Brag Company. This giveaway ends on 1/28. The second is for a Parazul handbag (it's gorgeous!) - this giveaway ends on 2/4.

The Cloth Diaper Whisperer is going to have 10 winners this week as part of their Fluff Friday giveaway. The 10 winners will each win (almost a $50 retail value each!):
1-Gro Baby Intro Pak (1-Gro Baby Shell & 1-Gro Baby Biosoakers 50 pk)
1-Gro Baby Organic Cotton Soaker Pad
1-Gro Baby Organic Cotton Booster
Giveaway ends this Friday!

Good luck!

Aloha Friday - Food Help!

From Kailani at An Island Life:

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link HERE. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

So next weekend I'm having a birthday party for 2 of my kids - my son turns 4 and my baby girl turns 1! I haven't planned a thing yet since I've been sick forever, so I really need some suggestions for food :) If you have an idea for something easy, please share!

Thanks!

I Like My Piggies...

After the kids' bath time today I decided we needed to sit down and trim their fingernails and toenails. My son sat down and let me clip away - no questions, comments, or anything. When I was all done, he looked up at me and said "Thank you Mommy."

Next up is my 2 year old daughter. With a completely straight face (and also a bit of concern) she says, "Mommy, please do not cut off my toes. Only cut my nails." I tried so hard to not laugh - did she really think I would cut off her toes? How many times have I cut her toenails? Too many for me to keep track, and I haven't cut off a toe yet. So I just smiled and responded "sure thing, cutie pie". I then proceeded to cut only her toenails (and not her little piggies).

Win a Flippin' Waffle Maker at 11th Heaven's Homemakeing Heaven

Jen at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven, 365 Days of TV-Free Toddler Time, and Mega-Family Blogs is giving away a flippin' waffle maker...

To enter, go HERE!!

Please, Please, Help Me Simplify My Life Sweepstakes

So I recently heard a little rumor that there is a new computer out there that could simplify a Mom's life. Could it really be true? When I went to bed last night, all I could think of was how could a computer really help simplify my life? I'm not sure that the makers of this computer know what goes on in my house on a daily basis! Thinking of the chaos that my 3 small children create on a daily basis, I fell fast asleep, knowing I would need all the energy I could muster up when I woke up the next morning.

When my alarm started to buzz the next morning, I started to go for the usual snooze button that my finger always seems to find first. Out of the corner of my eye though, I saw this glow come from across the room. I could also hear a faint "wake up Jackie - it's gonna be a glorious day today". Sitting on my table across the room was a shiny new HP Mini 110. Did that computer just talk to me? Is it telling me to get out of bed (and without an annoying loud buzz right in my ear!). I must be dreaming, but I do what it says (as the voice coming from HP Mini sounds so soothing and convincing at the same time).

I head over to the table, pick up the computer (yes, they aren't kidding, it is SO light!) and turn it around to make sure it is really there. Yep, that's a new computer waiting for me. As my house still sounds quiet, I turn on the computer. I must say, this laptop loads MUCH faster than my current (and I will also add, heavy & bulky) laptop. And much to my surprise, right there on my desktop, is a full schedule all set for me for the day. Seriously?

According to my new HP Mini 110, here was how my day was to go:

In 1 hour - my kids would wake up (this gives me enough time to hop in the shower, make a cup of tea, eat breakfast, and get the kids' breakfast ready).

While my kids eat their breakfast, I can sit on my laptop in the kitchen to get caught up on some bills. Using the cool new function of Windows 7, I am able to use my Jumplists to quickly get to the websites I need to pay these bills. I can also have some relaxing music playing in the background (to help drown out the noise of the kids arguing over who has more orange juice in their cup). Ahh - paying bills simplified!

A few hours later, I have the baby down for a nap and my 2 older kids are getting ready to watch a little TV. This is my time to get my grocery list done, coupons printed, check my email and spend a few minutes reading some blogs. As I'm rushing to get through all this, I realize that my computer screen has a million and one windows open. How does this always happen to me? I swear it's the multi-tasking! As I'm waiting for one window to load and I decide to open another to do something else real quick. Well, another cool feature of Windows 7, Shake, helps me clear through all that clutter super fast! Ahh - another task simplified!

After lunch, I head to my parent's house to drop off my kids so I can go to a doctor appointment (is this just coincidence that my parent's have a day off the same day I have a doctor appointment? This just never happens!). Since my new HP Mini 110 is so light-weight, I decide to bring it along with me (I might as well get some blog posts done while waiting for the doctor). No more reading old magazines in the waiting room (and no more watching kids and keep them quiet in the waiting room!) Ahh - life simplified!

Later on in the day, I take the kids out to the garage to ride their bikes. I do enjoy watching them ride their bikes, but I also remembered that there is a contest going on to win a HP Mini 110, but the deadline is in 30 minutes. How can I get a blog post done to enter the contest while the kids are riding their bikes? Oh wait - I can bring out that laptop that has simplifying my life all day today - that is the solution to my problem! I go over to where I last left the laptop, but I can't find it. Where did that thing go? I'm now in a panic - how can I possibly get all that I need to get done without that nifty little machine? It was a lifesaver for me today! And then the noise starts - that annoying buzzing that I can't seem to get out of my head. Is that crying I hear too? Where is it coming from?

And then it all becomes clear - I'm awake, my alarm is going off, the baby is crying, and I do not have an HP Mini 110 with Windows 7. But I really do want one! I have entered the Simplify My life Sweepstakes at Mom Bloggers Club by writing about how the HP Mini 110 with Windows 7 would simplify my life. The cool thing about this contest is that you can also be entered to win just by commenting below. If I am chosen as a lucky winner, then 3 lucky readers/commenters below will also win! So please leave some comments - I would love for you to win as well :) Contest ends on January 20, 2010 and the winners will be announced on January 29, 2010.

Check out what Dana Torres has to say about the HP Mini:

Man, I Feel Like A Woman!

After laying on my couch and bed for the past two weeks fighting pneumonia, I finally did it - took some "me time" after the kids went to bed and took a "real" shower! You know - the ones that waste so much water because you are in there for over 20 minutes! I cleaned myself up, enjoyed the hot steam, and even shaved my legs!!!!!! Then when my shower was over, I lotioned up with some sweet smelling lotion, tweezed my eyebrows, did my hair, and put on some nice clean pj's. I really do feel like a different person (maybe just a clean one!)

A Black Tie Affair by Sherrill Bodine Review & Giveaway!

Suited For Seduction:

Fashion curator Athena Smith will do anything to get her hands on the Clayworth family's couture collection for her exhibit. so when she's called in to make sure the gowns are the real deal, she's ecstatic...until a dress she's examining turns out to be loaded with toxins (talk about killer threads!) and Athena faints, only to wake up face-to-face with the One That Got Away, notorious Chicago bachelor Drew Clayworth.

Drew still believes Athena betrayed him all those years ago, and he's sure he can't trust her. But when the priceless gowns go missing, she offers to help track them down. Reluctantly allied in the quest, Drew and Athena are soon stunned by the barely restrained passion still sizzling between them...and memories both bitter and sweet. Is their new partnership just a business arrangement? Or is this something more than...A Black Tie Affair.

About the Author~
Sherrill Bodine has been writing stories since junior high, when she won a pair of silver skates in a state-wide essay contest. While moving twenty-two times back and forth across America and rearing her four children, she published fifteen award-winning novels under two pseudonyms (Lynn Leslie/Leslie Lynn). Now she's decided to be herself and write about the people, parties, ad high-life in the city she knows best: Chicago. When she's not in the Windy City with her husband, family, and Newfoundland and pug dogs, she's fulfilling her passion to travel to exotic locales around the world. You can visit Sherrill online at http://www.sherrillbodine.com/. You can also follow her on Twitter @SherrillBodine.

My Opinion~
I had never read a book by Sherrill Bodine before, but I can say that this will not be my last one! I always love a good romance novel. Sherrill also did a great job at adding a bit of mystery! I don't want to give away too much, but I would definitely suggest curling up on the couch with this book to find out if Drew & Athena have what it takes to find true love again!

A special thanks goes out to Anna at The Hachett Book Group for giving me the opportunity to review this great romance novel for you! If you are interested in reading this book, Anna has also been kind enough to give 5 lucky readers of 3 Little Ones their own copy of A Black Tie Affair!

To Enter:

Valid for Residents of the U.S. and Canada, age 18 and older. Please no PO Boxes.

Mandatory Entry:

** You must be a Subscriber of 3 Little Ones. You are welcome to sign up on the left-hand sidebar of my blog. Your subscription must be active, so be sure to check your email and activate it.

Extra Entries:

** Follow 3littleonesblog on Twitter and Tweet this Giveaway. You may tweet twice a day until the end of the giveaway for an extra entry (leave the link to your Tweet in your comment(s)

** Become a follower of 3 Little Ones(2 entries – leave 2 separate comments, follower #1, follower #2)

** Tell me your favorite novel you've read recently

** Leave a comment on a non-giveaway post

This Giveaway will end Friday, February 5, 2010.





Disclaimer: I did not receive any compensation for this book review/giveaway. I was provided with 1 copy of the book to read myself.

Milestones While I Lay On the Couch!

I just can't believe how big my 3 kids are getting! Maybe it's because I am still sick here (found out a few days ago that I have pneumonia - so no wonder I have been feeling horrible for the past week and a half!) but I've had a chance to sit back and watch them (you know, really watch them). The only distractions I've really had is my own coughing - I've done absolutely no cleaning, no cooking, no working on projects, etc. I've just sat in the recliner and watched the kids play all around me.



My 3 year old son (well, almost 4 in a few weeks) has become such a big helper. He checks in with me to see if I need more tissues or water to drink. If one of his sister's is whining for something, he tells me that he will help them and goes to find what they are looking for. My mom came over the other day after work to help me with dinner & bedtime with the kids. As my mom was cooking macaroni & cheese, I could hear my son in the kitchen with her telling her where everything was. He even knew where my colander was!

My 2 year old daughter has been doing awesome with going on the potty! I started to potty train her the day before I started feeling sick - and now almost 2 weeks later, she is diaper free! (except at bedtime). I do still remind her about the potty, but for the most part she goes all by herself :)

And then my baby girl - she is going to be 1 at the end of this month. I had planned on weaning her from nursing at around her first birthday, but was a little nervous to do it. She has proven to be a very stubborn little girl. She refuses bottles altogether and is very slow to accept a sippy cup (so opposite from my older two kids). But between her refusing to nurse while my temperature was very high or during my crazy coughing fits and now with all the medication I am on, she is fully weaned. Although there is a part of me that is happy (especially with how at ease she seemed to be about it), there is another part that is sad.

Well, hopefully my kids don't too much more growing up while I'm here trying to get better :)

Aveeno Baby - Bzz Product Review

Last year I signed up to become a BzzAgent to try out cool new products and tell others about them. Well, the first products I received not too long along were for some Aveeno Baby products - a moisturizing baby shampoo and a diaper rash cream. I was excited to try out these products on my kids - especially the shampoo because I've been having such a hard time lately finding anything decent for my daughter's crazy curly hair.

The Soothing Relief Diaper Rash Cream is very thick and creamy and it worked wonders! During our recent move I switched my kids over to disposable diapers (as all my cloth were packed away in a box until we had our own place). So of course we had a few more diaper rashes than we normally do. If I put this on my either of my girl's before bedtime, their rash was cleared up by the morning.

The Essestial Moisture Shampoo was a good product as well. I've used it on both my 3 year old son's hair and my 2 year old daughter's. I noticed the biggest difference with my daughter's hair as hers is longer and much curlier. I always have problems with knots in her hair and this was one of the few shampoos that I've used where she wasn't crying afterwards when I combed her hair. When her hair dried, her curls were more defined and there much less frizz! She looked adorable! The only thing I wish was different about the product was that they used less harmful ingredients (ie: fragrance - does the shampoo really need to have fragrance in it?). I realize it is much less than other shampoos on the market, but I still think Aveeno could improve by using safer ingredients for our kids.

Overall, I did enjoy the sample products I received and would suggest you try them out as well!

*Disclaimer: I received the above products free for review. The opinion is my own.*

Still Sick, Still Crabby, & Still Potty Training

Not much has changed since last week as I'm sure you can tell from the title of my post. I kept potty training my daughter on Friday even though I was stuck on the couch under about 5 blankets with a 102 degree fever. I did change my strategy a bit though (I felt I really needed to under the circumstances). After the first accident on Friday morning on the kitchen floor, I put pull-ups on her (I know, I know - I do not usually go for disposables). But I felt I needed to be consistent with training her and I already told her that we packed up her diapers and she was a big girl now. So this was our compromise - less mess for me to clean up :)

By Saturday morning, my husband took me to urgent care - my fever was still up there and I could barely get out of bed. I was beyond miserable! It turns out I had an ear infection. She also thinks I have some sort of virus that my body is fighting and be prepared for it to take a full 2 weeks to go away. Ugh - not what I wanted to hear! So I've been on an antibiotic since Saturday afternoon, and although my ear no longer hurts, my fever has yet to go away. As soon as the tylenol or motrin starts to wear off, that fever comes right on back. I'm really sure what he is thinking, but I've about had it with his company! I would love to wake up tomorrow and have Mr. Fever gone for good.

On a positive note though, I put my daughter back in her cloth underpants today and she only had 1 accident!!! Yay!!!!!! I am so excited for her that I can't really even describe it. And her only accident did happen when she was sitting in time-out. So can I really blame her? Probably not. She knows not to get up while in time-out. It was really funny though because as soon as I saw her start to strain, I picked her right up and put her on her potty. Her poop (sorry for the details) was already coming out, but we did get it in the potty! I explained to her that if she ever felt like she had to poop again (even if in time-out) to just get up and run to the potty. So later on this afternoon, my parents & I were hanging out watching television. All of a sudden we see my little girl walk to her potty and pull her pants down. Within seconds she had her normal "poop" face and then jumped up with a huge smile and exclaimed "Mommy! I just did a BIG, STINKY poopy!". I was so proud of her - she did it all by herself and didn't even need me to remind her.

So even though I still feel like crap, today was a good day. It's amazing how kids can do that to you!

I'm Sick, I'm Crabby & I'm Potty Training...

Ugh - I really do hate when I am sick. It's just a bad cold (which I knew I would eventually get since all 3 kids have had it over the past 2 weeks) - but I'm still miserable and complaining often to my husband. My body just aches, I've been fighting a slight fever, my throat hurts, my head hurts and I'm coughing.

I was actually laughing about everything earlier today - 2 weeks ago when my 2 year old first came down with a cold, my husband and I kept going on about what a "drama queen" she can be. Every time she would cough, she would burst into tears. Her appetite was minimal, she was very crabby and just wanted to lay on the couch and cuddle. We obviously know where she gets her "drama queen" behavior from! Since putting the kids to bed, I've whined numerous times to my husband while cuddling up on our couch with my snuggie.

I must say though, as miserable as I have felt today, I still kept up with the potty training! Trust me, once my misery kicked in during late morning, I was very ready to put a diaper on my daughter and make my life a little easier. I'm happy I stuck with it though - my little girl went on the potty 5 times today and cut her accidents down to only 4! What impressed me even more was that there were no poop accidents today - she managed to take care of that on the potty - yay!!!! Hopefully tomorrow will lead to even more progress (potty training and of course, less aches for me!). Okay, I'm done complaining for now - I'm heading to bed :)

Wordless Wednesday - Timber!

I know it's a little late, but I finally got around to uploading our Christmas photos! After a few ornaments were hung, our tree decided it didn't like where it was. Here I am holding it up! I can't even begin to describe how painful that was - those needles were sharp!!!!

For more Wordless Wednesday, head on over here.

Potty Training - Day 1

So I decided the other day that I was about ready potty train my 2 year old daughter. I am pretty sure that she is ready (I think she was probably ready a month or so ago, but I wasn't really ready yet). With it a new year, and it being so cold outside that I have no desire to go anywhere, I thought now was a good time.

My husband and I gave her a pep talk last night to let her know that once she woke up she needed to get on the potty and that she would be wearing big girl underpants all day. She seemed up for it - which we were happy about. When she woke up though, her excitement was not as strong as the night before. She is so much like her mother though (haha!) and really isn't happy any morning until she gets a good breakfast in her! Once she ate, she sat on the potty and went pee-pee :) We were so excited (her big brother probably the most!).

Her favorite food is goldfish crackers - so each time she went on the potty, she got to choose between a few goldfish crackers or some M&M's that Santa had left for her in the stocking. Of course, her big brother also received a treat each time she went on the potty (he was a good "cheerleader" all day for her, so I though he deserved it).

By the end of the day, she had a total of 5 accidents all day. On the other hand, she actually went in the potty a total of 5 times!! Yay! We were all so excited tonight and very proud of her! I know it's a long road ahead of us, but I am very optimistic after today! Let me tell you, I cannot wait to have only 1 in diapers :)

Not Me Monday - I Did Not Lose my Diamond...

Nope, I did NOT lose my diamond from my engagment ring the other day. A few minutes before leaving to visit my in-laws for a long weekend, I did NOT look down at my hand in front of my husband and let out a huge gasp. In between my 2 sets of baguets, not only was my center diamond missing, but the setting it sits in as well! Just one big empty hole....

I did NOT make us leave about 2 hours too late while we searched and searched on our hands & knees. And no, we still have NOT found it 4 days later...

I'll keep searching and hopefully I will find it soon. Everyone keeps saying that I can get it replaced (which of course costs money that I don't want to spend) - but I don't want it replaced, I just want the diamond that my husband bought me 8 years ago...

For more Not Me Monday, head on over to MckMama.

Aloha Friday - Happy New Year!

From Kailani at An Island Life:

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link HERE. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

So it's 2010 already! My question for today is: What was your most memorable moment from last year (can you believe that yesterday is already "last year"?) Mine was the birth of my 3rd baby - an adorable baby girl on January 31, 2009. I am still trying to prepare myself to celebrate her 1st birthday at the end of this month...