Monthly Archives: May 2009

Product Review + Giveaway: Knock Knock, organization at its finest and funniest!

New posts, Organization, Paper Goods, , ,

Knock KnockOh my gosh!!  I am totally in love with Knock Knock.   I can’t tell you how many note pads I have laying around the house despite the fact that I have at least 3 to-do/organization programs on my mac to help me stay organized!  Ha Ha!  Can you say “ADHD poster girl”?
We recently had a few home projects to plan and organize and between Tim and I there were about a dozen sheets of paper laying around the house with roofer’s phone numbers, terminology, ratings, etc..  I finally broke down because I didn’t know where to begin.  At the time that we were planning things, I could only dream of one place to keep all of the roofer’s phone numbers, phone notes, and swirly doodles I drew while on the phone with potential roofers.   Knock Knock’s Home Maintenance Organizer would have been a lifesaver – and will be in the future!

Knock Knock makes it easy for me to let Tim know what he can MUST do to make me happy with the Things You Must Do To Make Me Happy notepad.  That cracks me up!  A few of my favorites on the checklist are “wake up”, “remember what you tell me”, and “get it yourself”.

Knock Knock MousepadThe most useful Knock Knock item for me is the Information Central Paper Mousepad.  I am at the computer many many many hours a day and while I’m working, naturally, a million random thoughts are going through my head.  Being able to jot the ideas and thoughts down on my mousepad is so cool!  I love it!

Especially for new parents, the Postpartum Bundle of Joy kit comes complete with a New Parent Checklist for leaving the house, a book straight from Knock Knock’s Self Hurt series titled “How to Traumatize Your Children”, and a voucher booklet for new parents.

GIVEAWAY!
We are giving one lucky reader a Knock Knock Errand Manager Pad, Information Central Paper Mousepad, the Happy Mom Bundle, and Home-Maintenance Organizer!  Just leave a comment below telling me an ‘organization or disorganization story’ (ex: did you forget a really important date, lose your keys at a really bad time, or forget to do something important for work?).  I will choose one winner at random.  Entries accepted until June 11th.

Fun News & Giveaway: What celebrities did before becoming famous

Celebrity Moms, New posts, Past Giveaways, , , ,

I stumbled across this information this morning, not sure how, and had to share it with you.  I find some of the pre-celebrity jobs fascinating such as the coffin polishing __________ (ya’ gotta keep reading!).   Do you know what a celebrity did before becoming famous? What about Prince, Kate Gosselin (yes, her), or Tom Cruise?  <UPDATE:  The celebrities I listed have all been listed by now.. be creative in your celebrity search! Do the research and leave the info, including a link to the source, in the comments below and I will give one random commenter a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate!  Entries will be accepted until 10pm May 29th and I will announce the winner right here in this post!

Whoopi Goldberg was a bricklayer.  That’s a tough job!

Russell Crowe was a waiter.  I’m sure he got some great tips from the ladies.

Gwen Stefani’s previous job was as a Dairy Queen cleaner.  Wacky huh?

Johnny Depp was a telemarketer!  What a bummer..wasting his good looks by sitting in a cubicle bugging people on the phone.

Pink was a McDonald’s worker.

Simon Cowell worked in the post room.

Madonna worked in a doughnut factory.  WHAT?

Colin Farrell was a dance teacher.  Not the suspected sexy kind of dancing.. line dancing!

Barack Obama was an ice cream seller.  How much more ‘all-American’ can you get?

Geri Halliwell, pre Spice Girls, was a Turkish game show hostess.  Huh, can you picture that?

Brad Pitt was a chicken dancer for a Mexican restaurant.  His job was to entice people to eat at the restaurant.  Couldn’t he have just stood there as himself, not a chicken?

Harrison Ford was a carpenter.  I can’t really vision that one.

Sean Connery was a coffin polisher.  I can vision that.

Annie Lennox was a waitress at a cafe in North London.

Source: Virgin Media

Congratulations to the winner of the amazon.com gift certificate, Lily K.!

Product Review: Burpee Money Garden $650 of veggies for just $10.. my 9 year old can do it, so can you!

Age 7-10, Ages 10-13, Gardening, New posts, Organic,

b450151It’s true. If you buy a lot of vegetables, organic at that, you will cut your grocery bill quite a bit just by growing your own veggies. “But that’s so hard”, some say. Well, if I can do it (actually my 9 year old son does it), then you can.

Each Money Garden includes vegetables such as tomatoes, carrots, and peppers which are ideal for every day snacks and meals. Madelyn loves a snack of carrots and dip. Knowing that the carrots are fresh. Some of the veggies should be sown in the spring while there are some that can be sown in late summer so buy a package or enter to win a package (below) today so you can get a move on sowing your veggie seeds for a nice Fall crop.

A few homegrown vegetable and Money Garden facts:

  • homegrown veggies taste better than store-bought
  • they don’t sit in a truck or on a store shelf for a week or more
  • they can be organic
  • and if your kids help plant the seeds and maintain the garden, they will be proud of themselves and learn responsibility!

tomotosThe photograph here is of Sebastian’s tomato plant which he is very proud of. He can’t wait until they tomatoes are ready to eat!
Each Money Garden contains packages of six easy-to-grow varieties capable of producing $650 worth of vegetables on a mere tenth of an acre. You can buy Burpee’s Money Garden package for your garden here. The sowing/growing instructions aren’t included on the package so you’ll want to print them out from here.

GIVEAWAY!
I have 4 Burpee’s Money Garden packages to give away to lucky subscribers! Subscribers just need to leave a comment below (use your subscriber email address) telling me what your favorite vegetable is and/or something funny about your kids and veggies.

Product Review: Little Tikes Butterfly Beach Sandbox and Wading Pool

Age 3-5, Age 5-7, New posts, Outdoor Toys, , , , , ,

Little Tikes Butterfly Beach SandboxIt’s imperative that moms relax and it’s nearly impossible for a mom to have alone time.   For me, sitting outside, even with the kids, is the next best thing to having alone time.  I am usually trying to relax when I’m sitting outside, so it’s important that the kids have something to do so they will leave me alone for a few minutes (right!?).
After much trial and error, I concluded that sand is just about the coolest outdoor toy ever.  So, now I have a sandbox on both porches.  On the front porch I have a shallow, wide plastic storage bin (the kind you put under a bed to store stuff in) filled with sand while the back porch, the one I sit on more often, has the more aesthetically pleasing Little Tikes Butterfly Beach Sandbox and Wading Pool.

The Little Tikes Butterfly Beach Sandbox and Wading Pool entertains both of my kids, 9 and 3,.. at the same time! Imagine that!
The butterfly’s wings unfold with one wing becoming the pool and the other wing is the sandbox.   It sounds like magic, but it’s not.  The sunshade pops into the butterfly’s back and provides great protection from the sun.  I absolutely LOVE having the sunshade.  When Madelyn is playing in the front porch sandbox (the make-shift storage bin sandbox) I have to move it as the sun shines down on the porch which is a pain because sand isn’t light!  When the kids are done playing in the Butterfly Beach Sandbox and Wading Pool, the emptied pool side folds over the sand side doubling as a secure lid. The Little Tikes Butterfly Beach Sandbox and Wading Pool is great for kids ages 2 and up and holds enough water and sand to occupy my 9 year old for a while.

The Little Tikes Butterfly Beach Sandbox and Wading Pool is sold at Amazon.com for about $45.

GIVEAWAY!
1 lucky subscriber will win a Little Tikes Butterfly Beach Sandbox and Wading Pool!  Stay tuned and subscribe to learn how to enter starting April 1st.