Giveaway winners!

The winners of the All Oxi-Active giveaway were:
Russ
JoR

Congratulations!

Freebies!

Amy Butler sewing patterns
Amy Butler paper craft patterns
Mrs. Wages classic salsa
P&G coupon booklet

Free Greetings Cards for Teachers!

I'm a teacher, so I know how good it feels when students and parents show their appreciation. My mom is a teacher as well, so I grew up making it a point to appreciate the efforts my teachers put into their jobs.

I have a lot of memorable teachers, and I really liked that I got to know them outside of the classroom, since they were also my mom's friends. One in particular I developed a close relationship with, since I also baby-sat his kids nearly every Saturday. He was my choir director, and also taught religion. He had a no-nonsense attitude in the classroom, but also had a laid back personality, and you could tell that he really loved what he did.

Tiny Prints is kicking off the school year by launching a new Teacher Greeting Card line. And to honor teachers, Tiny Prints is giving away personalized greetings cards to teachers, from August 2nd to October 31st when they use code Apple2010.

You can participate in a Tiny Prints Teacher Greeting Card Twitter Party with the tag #makeitpersonal this Wednesday from 4-5 pm ET.

Fun Freetime: Cotton Ball Scoop

divide into a few groups. Blindfold members of one group, then give them ladles and ice cream buckets. Spread cotton balls around the floor. Using only the ladles, they need to scoop the cotton balls into the buckets. They can't feel for the cotton with their hands. The other groups can have fun laughing, then take their turns scooping. Winner is the group who collects the most cotton balls in the time period allotted.

Website Spotlight: Ramblers Way Farm

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Ramblers Way. All opinions are 100% mine.

My husband and I both grew up in small, sleepy towns. Recently some of the towns in his area were bypassed when they re-did the highway that used to go through them. Some of the small towns in my area have been bypassed too, or have just had people leave when jobs left.

I remember reading a MN Historical Society article that showed what a lot of small towns had years and years ago. There used to be towns of only a few hundred people that would have a theater, a music group, a saloon, and more. You don't see theaters and arts groups in the small towns anymore, unless their cooperatives with a variety of other area towns. Our town is big enough to have its own community band, but where I grew up, the local community band drew from ten or twelve towns!

I enjoy living in the cities, but I think we lose something when we lose our small towns. More importantly, I think we lose something when we lose the mom & pop shops in favor of generic big box stores. Ramblers Way Farm is committed to a Made in America philosophy. They grow and produce their woolen apparel using 100% domestic resources, and have brought production facilities into dying small towns to help revitalize the communities.

The Ramblers Way Corporate Office is a building that was originally built in 1792 and in downtown Kennebunk, Maine. The building has been restored to its original condition, as well as modernized to meet today's environmental standards, achieving Gold LEED certification.

It's great to see that there's a company committed to trying to bring some life back into small towns again. Plus, they're redefining wool garments as well. I looked around on the website, and they have a lot of things that aren't the big, bulky sweaters I think of when I think wool. They even have wool underwear! The wool is washable and shrink-resistant, and chemical-free.

Thrifty Thinking: Sandbox Substitute

Do you want to let your kids play in the sand, but you don't want to spend the money on a sandbox? Try one of those flat under-bed storage boxes instead. It's not as big, so your kids will have to sit on the outside, but it still works to do most of the fun. Plus, it's easy to move around if you get one with wheels! This is also a great space-saver.

Soul Sustenance: Vulnerability

Vulnerability brings trust. Trust brings opportunity. - Whole Living

Mealtime Magic: Hot Dog Toppings

Here are some great combos you can try at your next cookout to make things a little different than the regular ketchup-mustard-relish.

Make chili dogs with kidney beans or chili and cheese.
Make BLT dogs with bacon bits, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and cheese.
Try a sweeter version by topping with grilled peppers and pineapple.
Go Mexican by topping with salsa and cheese.
Mushroom and Swiss cheese work for more than just burgers.
For an Italian twist, try mozzarella cheese and pasta sauce.
Greek variant: sun dried tomatoes, feta, and olives.

Consumer Critique: Breyers (and sweepstakes)

I've been asked to highlight Breyer's new Smooth & Dreamy bars, as well as the current sweepstakes running that has hundreds of instant win prizes and a $10,000 grand prize.

There are six yummy new flavors: ice cream sandwiches in chocolate chip cookie dough (chocolate chip cookies with vanilla chocolate chip ice cream), chocolate caramel brownie (chocolate brownie cookies with chocolate caramel ice cream), and vanilla fudge brownie (chocolate brownie cookies with vanilla chocolate chip ice cream); and ice cream bars in chocolate covered strawberry, vanilla caramel chip, and triple chocolate chip. Each flavor has 160 calories (the sandwiches) or less per serving, so they're indulgent without being too many calories.

The quality is what you'd expect from a Breyers product - delicious. I personally prefer vanilla ice cream to chocolate ice cream, so the chocolate chip cookie dough and vanilla caramel chip are my favorite flavors.

If you visit the site for the sweepstakes and instant win game, be sure to sign up for promotions and check out the fun Wordalicious game.

"I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Breyers and received products necessary to facilitate my review. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate."

Freebies!

Hugo Boss cologne
Eucerin lotion (Facebook)
Origins GinZing eye cream


Here are some great samples available at Freeflys.
Free Shampoo and Conditioner samples.
Free Soft & Chewy Dog Treat Samples.
Free sample of Sinus Medicine.
Free samples of Saline Nose Wipes.
Free Baby Magazine Subscription