If you took a look into my home last Friday, you would’ve laughed. We are quite the techy family… and we love to read. Whether it’s computer programming books, the latest novel, or learning to read with Dora, we all have our favorites. Every week, we like to turn off the TV for a night and just read. We don’t have themes for reading, or anything, but we do pick out a selection of books and read!

Using our VTech V.Reader has been really neat. We’ve spent even more time reading over the last two weeks, that we are beginning to  watch even less TV. It makes me feel really good that my girls are enjoying reading, and they’re preparing themselves for school, without really even knowing it!

Do you have a Family Reading night? If you don’t… I challenge you to try it out! Let me know how it goes!

** I am a VTech Voices Blogger. VTech sends me product in exchange for participation in this program.

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

1

Timestamp: 2010-07-09 04:41:30 UTC

The Grammy® award winning, multi-platinum singer/songwriter is set to release her long awaited new album, LAWS OF ILLUSION on June 15th!

This marks Sarah’s first studio album of brand new material in 7 years.  In a career spanning more than two decades, Sarah has over 20 million career sales to date and every one of Sarah McLachlan’s studio and live albums has been certified gold, platinum, or multi-platinum by the RIAA

Check out Sarah  her new single “Loving You Is Easy” on Jay Leno and a medley of her hits on Dancing With The Stars.

LAWS OF ILLUSION

True to her Canadian roots, the album was recorded in Montreal and Vancouver with Sarah’s longtime collaborator/producer Pierre Marchand. Sarah’s new album LAWS OF ILLUSION will be released June 15th just weeks in advance of the kick off to the historic all women touring festival, founded by McLachlan (see below for more info on Lilith Fair).

The album’s first single “Loving You is Easy,” is a Top Ten hit at Adult Alternative radio and is available for sale at all digital providers. Order the album LAWS of ILLUSION on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

Check out Sarah candidly talking about the making of the album.  New videos will be put up on her site everyday.

Follow Sarah on Twitter

In a career spanning more than two decades, Sarah has over 20 million career sales to date and, every one of Sarah McLachlan’s studio and live albums has been certified gold, platinum, or multi-platinum by the RIAA!

Tracks:

• Awakenings
• Illusions of Bliss
• Loving You is Easy
• Changes
• Forgiveness
• Rivers of Love
• Love Come
• Out of Tune
• Heartbreak
• Don’t Give Up On Us
• U Want Me 2
• Bring on the Wonder

Win it:

Want to win it??? Just leave me a comment!!! Really! it’s that easy!!!

Winner must be a resident of the USA. Entries will be accepted until July 9th at 11:59pm EST. Tweet this giveaway or share this giveaway on Facebook for extra entries. Just leave me a comment saying you did!!!

Lilith Fair Summer Tour
The return of the historic all-female Lilith Fair festival this summer!  From 1997 through 1999, Lilith Fair was one of the highest grossing touring festivals in the world, with over 2 million fans in attendance and raising over $10 million dollars for national and local women’s charities.

Artists joining Sarah on the bill to include:
Colbie Caillat, Mary J. Blige, Sheryl Crow, Erykah Badu, Ke$ha, Norah Jones, Sugarland, Heart, Miranda Lambert, Beth Orton, Brandi Carlile, Cat Power, Chantel Kreviazuk, Corinne Bailey Rae, Emmylou Harris, Gossip, Indigo Girls, Ingrid Michaelson, Jill Scott, Loretta Lynn, Metric, Sara Bareilles, Tegan and Sara and more!

• Jun 27 Calgary, AB McMahon Stadium
• Jun 28 Edmonton, AB Northlands Spectrum
• Jul 1 Vancouver, BC, Canada Pitt Meadows Airport
• Jul 2 Portland, OR Sleep Country Amphitheatre
• Jul 3 Seattle/George, WA The Gorge Amphitheatre
• Jul 5 San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View
• Jul 7 San Diego, CA Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
• Jul 8 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
• Jul 9 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay Events Center
• Jul 10 Los Angeles, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
• Jul 12 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre
• Jul 13 Denver, CO Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
• Jul 15 Kansas City, MO Capitol Federal Park @ Sandstone
• Jul 16 St. Louis, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
• Jul 17 Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
• Jul 18 Minneapolis, MN Canterbury Park
• Jul 20 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center Indianapolis
• Jul 21 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
• Jul 23 Montreal, QC Parc Jean Drapaeu
• Jul 24 Toronto, ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
• Jul 27 Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Center
• Jul 28 Philadelphia, PA Susquehanna Bank Center
• Jul 30 Boston, MA Comcast Center
• Jul 31 New York, NY PNC Bank Arts Center
• Aug 1 Hartford, CT Comcast Theatre
• Aug 3 Washington, DC TBA
• Aug 4 Raleigh, NC Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek
• Aug 6 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte
• Aug 7 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
• Aug 8 Atlanta, GA Aarons Amphitheatre at Lakewood
• Aug 10 West Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre
• Aug 11 Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre
• Aug 12 Birmingham, AL Verizon Wireless Music Center
• Aug 14 Austin, TX TBA
• Aug 15 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
• Aug 16 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), with the cooperation of seven firms, is announcing voluntary recalls of more than two million cribs to address drop-side hazards and other hazards that affect the safety of young children. The recalling firms are providing consumers with free repair kits to immobilize the drop sides or other remedies. Do not attempt to fix these cribs with homemade remedies.

The drop-side and fixed-side crib recalls announced today are of units manufactured between 2000 and 2009 by the companies listed below. Consumers should contact these firms directly for the appropriate remedy:

• Child Craft, (this firm is out of business): Fixed-Side | Drop-Side
• Delta Enterprise Corp., of New York, N.Y.
• Evenflo, of Miamisburg, Ohio
• Jardine Enterprises, of Taipei, Taiwan
• LaJobi, of Cranbury, N.J.
• Million Dollar Baby, of Montebello, Calif.
• Simmons Juvenile Products Inc. (SJP), of New London, Wis.

“Cribs should be the safest place in the home for infants and toddlers,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. “CPSC is committed to addressing the hazards with cribs and to restoring parents’ confidence that their child will have a safe sleep.”

CPSC continues to actively investigate various cribs for potential drop-side and other hazards as part of a larger effort by the agency to rid the marketplace and homes of unsafe cribs. CPSC staff is also working on a new mandatory standard to make cribs safer, which is targeted for completion in 2010.

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) has also launched a new crib safety initiative. The listed manufacturers are providing free drop-side crib immobilization kits to prevent the drop side from detaching, plus replacement hardware and assembly instructions for cribs manufactured by participating firms. These materials are available free to any consumer by request.

The firms involved in today’s recalls are providing immobilization devices or other remedies as part of JPMA’s crib safety initiative. Consumers can visit JPMA’s website, www.cribsafety.org, for a list of participating manufacturers and for downloadable materials about ensuring that children have a safe sleep.

The immobilization devices, which will be available in the next few weeks, should be attached to keep the drop side from detaching from the cribs. Immobilization devices are not a solution for cribs with broken or damaged drop-side hardware. If your drop-side hardware is broken, contact the manufacturer for an alternative remedy.

CPSC issued a warning last month alerting parents and caregivers that there can be deadly hazards associated with drop-side cribs. Nine million drop-side cribs have been recalled over the past five years. CPSC staff has determined drop-side cribs generally have a tendency to be less structurally sound than cribs with four fixed sides.

Drop-side crib incidents can also occur due to incorrect assembly or age-related wear and tear. Age is a factor in the safety of any crib. At a minimum, CPSC staff recommends that you not use a crib that is older than 10 years. Many older cribs do not meet current voluntary standards and can have numerous safety problems.

Important Message from CPSC:

The safest place for your baby to sleep is in a crib or bassinet depending on their age. If your crib has been recalled or it has missing, broken or loose parts, find an alternate safe sleep environment intended for a baby. If your baby is less than six months old and is not yet able to push up to his/her hands and knees, you can put your baby to sleep in a bassinet. Make sure your bassinet has not been recalled. Here’s a list. Also, you can use a play yard.

Do not put additional bedding such as pillows, thick quilts, comforters or anything plush into your baby’s sleeping space. More babies die every year from suffocation in plush sleeping environments than from defective cribs. Always place your baby on his or her back to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Visit CPSC’s Crib Information Center for more information on Crib Safety and Recalls.

For more information go directly to this recall notice.

.

**Congratulations to Patricia Hill… She has 24 hours to claim her prize!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

94

Timestamp: 2010-07-01 14:05:00 UTC

Summer time is here, and it’s Grillin’ Season! My hubby loves to spend time at the grill, making up all kinds of amazing meals for us, and for friends and family who come to visit us. A couple of products we use a lot here are bacon and hot dogs. Hot dogs are always a fan favorite when there’s going to be a lot of kids around too. When we’re shopping for a large crowd, we always look for food items that we can get for a great value, and Bar-S is definitely one of those brands. Their products taste great, and you get so much more for your money than you do with the other “premium priced” products. My hubby also makes some awesome jalapeño poppers that are wrapped in bacon… They’re such an awesome addition to our BBQ’s. Want to try them yourself? Here’s a quick and easy recipe!

Ryan’s Delicious Jalapeño Poppers

What you’ll need:

5-10 Fresh Jalapeños, 1 tub of cream cheese,  fresh pineapple, or other fruit you’d like to try. 1 package Bar-S Bacon

Directions:

Slice jalapeños in half lengthwise. Clean out the seeds and rinse them off.

Spoon cream cheese into the jalapeño halves.

Place a chunk of fresh pineapple in the center of the cream cheese.

Wrap each of the jalapeños in 1/2 slice of Bar-S bacon and set aside.

If you have a smoker (best idea) Place the poppers in the smoker for about an hour, or until the peppers start to wrinkle. If you have a bbq grill, place the poppers on the lowest heated area of the grill and keep an eye that you don’t burn the bacon!

Enjoy!

Hot dogs and bacon aren’t the only things that Bar-S has to offer though! They also have Lunchmeat, Smoked Sausage, Ham, and now Corn Dogs!!! I haven’t had a chance to try out the corn dogs yet, but if they’re anything like their other products, they’re going to taste great! I’m still waiting for this new product to make it into stores here in Jacksonville… In the meanwhile… You can enter this awesome giveaway sponsored by Bar-S

The Giveaway

Bar-S foods is offering a Brookstone Motorized Hot Dog Griller to one of my readers!!!

• Grill hot dogs and sausages perfectly every time, with no burn marks or waste, with a motorized BBQ rotisserie. No need to hover over your grill to ensure the hot dogs are done right—just use this automatic hot dog cooker. Built-in electric motor rotates hot dogs so they cook evenly all over, without scorch marks or cold spots. It’s also an ideal way to cook sausages, bratwurst, kielbasa and more.
• Generous 8 1/2″ x 12 1/2″ cooking surface lets you cook multiple hot dogs at once. Plus, the rotisserie frees up space on your grill for more chicken, burgers or ribs, making large summer BBQs easier to manage and stress-free. The rotisserie is easy to set up and clean, and fits virtually any grill.
• Enjoy grilled hot dogs and sausages all summer long, without any hassle—order your motorized rotisserie from Brookstone today!

Talk about a great way to quickly cook all of those Bar-S Hot Dogs & Sausages for a big backyard BBQ!  LOL

All you have to do is leave a comment telling me your favorite summer activity!

You can gain additional entries by retweeting this givaway or sharing it on facebook and leaving me a comment telling me you did!

Entries will be accepted until June 30, at 1159pm EST. Winner will be chosen via random.org. Winner must be a resident of the US. Void where Prohibited

Every single week Bar-S selects 2 fans from their facebook page to be featured as fans of the week and receive a week’s supply of Bar-S Bacon.

Bar-S’ Grilling Van weekend schedule is posted on Twitter weekly – follow us to find out where the van is going to be and fan us to win a free week of Bar-S Bacon!

I would also like to mention their June Sweepstakes!!  There are only 2 weeks left to win the $10,000 Grand Prize as well as other instant prizes.

** I did receive a free product coupon, but have not been able to use it.

The Storms:

Just a few days ago, I was hanging out at home, cleaning up and working random things here at the house, with my girls. I saw a Skype message from Melissa that said she was scared because of a phone call she got from her kids telling her the house was flooding. It wasn’t until a little later in the day when I found out how bad it actually was. If you’ve been following my posts and tweets, you know that their house was filled about 2-3ft high with water, and they’ve lost so much. After setting up the ChipIn widget, and seeing how much love was pouring in from complete strangers, I was just amazed. I started contacting brands that Melissa and I have worked with in the past and asked if they’d in any way be able to donate to the relief efforts, and they did. Amy over at MomSpark then jumped in and started contacting companies she worked with, and was also met with a resounding “YES” from many of the brands she has worked with. It wasn’t long after that we found out how much repairs we were actually looking at.

Reality Hits:

We’ve seen the photos of the devastation. We’ve heard some of the stories of the families affected by the floods, and now we’re seeing the cost of this fiasco. In Melissa’s neighborhood, there are about 170 homes affected. Only 6 of them had flood insurance. Melissa’s estimates are starting to come in. The first one is just for cleanup: $5-7K. From there, she has to buy new flooring, new sheetrock, new paint, tile, kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets… the list goes on… The Life Church is the main hub right now, and they are collecting some of the necessary items to help with cleanup, and restoration.

There is Hope:

In the wake of the floods, there is definitely great hope. We’ve been able to raise over $4,000 that will go towards Melissa’s repair costs. We’ve also received some very generous donations from brands that will not only help Melissa, but a few neighbors as well. Please show your support for these brands and consider them when you’re looking to make purchases. They’ve all jumped at the chance to help, and we couldn’t be more grateful!

To all of the brands who have contributed, THANK YOU! To everyone who has donated, THANK YOU!  Your help has made Melissa and her family breathe a lot easier…

How you can help:

If you are willing/able to make a donation to help the neighbors in The Valley Subdivision, please contact:

Life Church

2001 NW 178th St

Edmond,OK 73012

405-478-5433

Items Needed for Flood Victims:

• Trash Bags
• Fans
• Cleaning Supplies
• Towels
• Food
• Bottled Water/Drinks
• Bandaids
• Sunscreen
• Bug Spray
• Clothes
• Toiletries
• Laundry Soap
• Extension Cords/Power Strips
• Baggies
• Boxes
• Antibacterial Wipes
• Baby wipes
• Paper plates
• Paper towels

So, I’ve had quite a few blogs step up to the plate and offer to donate ad space. These blogs are offering up a 125x125px ad space to all brands who are able to donate to help Melissa and her Family (and neighborhood if able) in her time of need… This list will be updated as more join the blog ring!

If you are a blogger and are interested in helping out with donating an ad space or a few, please fill out this form and let me know!!!

If you are a company willing to donate product to the Garcia Family.. or beyond.. please go to my Contact Form and choose subject CQ Relief and let me know what you are willing to help out with!!! I’ll reply and will need a 125x125px ad from you to put in our ad rotation!

How the ads will work: My husband will be creating a rotating banner ad. Ads will be shown for 30 days in this ad rotation with 2 other ads. That means that it will not come up ALL of the time, but it will rotate on ALL of the blogs participating. We’ve received many donations, and want to give everyone their credit. To maximize the amount of views, 3 ads will be in rotation at any one time (Subject to change based on amount of donating companies. Not to exceed 5 ads in rotation)

	PARTYBLUPRINTS BLOG ideas and inspirations for celebrating life!

I can not say thank you enough to everyone who has helped out, including the bloggers who have reached out to brands they have worked with. This is a HUGE COLLECTIVE effort and EVERYONE’S help is appreciated!

So I have an idea… I’m going to try to get some donations from companies that she’s worked with and hopefully some that I’ve worked with. She’s lost just about everything.. The water came in just over 2 feet high in her house. She was at work when she heard from her kids crying on the phone telling her that water was coming in from all over.

When she finally got to the house, she was beside herself. Red mud covered everything… Her new furniture, and many of her appliances were destroyed. Her mom’s brand new bed- destroyed… Her kid’s toys and clothing- destroyed… Their bedding, including a specially made pillow from Sleep Number to help her husband be able to sleep- destroyed. We are hoping she’ll be able to salvage their new lawn gear and her vacuum cleaners… We do know that her washer & dryer are OK thanks to being up on pedestals. We’ll find out about her TV and home entertainment electronics when everything has had time to dry out and she can attempt to plug in.. I’ll know more soon…

If you don’t know ConsumerQueen… Please go to her About Us page and see why she is such an awesome person..

So here’s where you can help.. If you’ve already donated money, retweeted, posted, add the widget, or anything.. THANK YOU! Your help thus far has been amazing and totally appreciated. If you’ve been trying to think of how you can help… then please consider this. Like I mentioned above, I’m going to ask some brands that I and/or she has worked with for help. Either by donating products to help out, or consider a monetary donation. I’d like to offer them something in return for their generosity. Here’s where you come in. If you are willing to donate ad space on your website for 30 days to these companies, I’d like to give them a site ring that will help promote them as a thank you… If you can’t do ad space, maybe you’ll consider a blog post thanking them… If you are able to participate, please fill out this form and let me know what you’d be willing to do.

Another idea has been a sponsored tweet of sorts.. If companies/blog sites/whomever would like to buy a sponsored tweet from someone participating, they can do that as well. Please indicate if you’re interested in participating in that on the form as well!

I’m going to create a post for all of the participating blog buttons to go with their twitter links also..

To give you an idea of what happened yesterday in Oklahoma… Her neighborhood is featured on this video at about 3:13..

This past weekend, nine of us Walmart Moms were brought to Bentonville, Arkansas to meet with some of the executives that work at the Home Office. It’s been a long time since we first talked about getting together out there. It was very cool that it finally happened.

When I agreed to make the trip, I wasn’t sure what to expect out of it. I knew we were going to be meeting with a few of the higher ranking people at the home office, I just didn’t know how those meetings would go. I was in for a surprise. Let’s start at the very beginning though.

Thursday was my day of travel. I spent the morning with the girls and hubby, and doing my last minute packing. My plane left out at around 230pm… Off I went to Charlotte…. then on to Fayetteville, AR. I was so excited to see everyone and to see what was in store for us. We knew that we’d be meeting with people at the Home Office,  attend the Shareholders’ Meeting and the Saturday Morning Meeting… all in just two days… It was definitely a jam packed schedule.. but I was excited! Until I got to baggage claim. One of the other Walmart Moms, Jenn Fowler, was there waiting for me… We were going to take the same shuttle to the hotel. My suitcase never showed up. To make a long story short, it nearly took a miracle to get my suitcase to me so I’d have my necessities in time for the Shareholders’ Meeting… We had to leave the hotel at 530am… My miracle came in the form of an awesome Airport Shuttle company, Jim’s Express Shuttle… Look them up if you’re ever in the Bentonville area!

Friday morning brought the Shareholders’ Meeting which was somewhat like being at the Grammy’s. It was a whole lot of business, but it was FUN! I don’t think numbers have ever interested me so much. The best part of the whole event though… was the personal stories, the stories from the employees in various countries whose lives have been changed (for the better) because of Walmart. We first heard the story of an associate from Malaysia who now is a store manager in Canada. We heard stories about how the quality of life has been improved for not only the employees but the patrons of the stores in India, and how an associate in Japan learned sign language to better help out her hearing impaired customers. There were so many stories that just tugged at our hearts… It put a very personal touch to a company that we hear all too much corporate things about. It made me proud to be a Walmart Mom. If you want to see some of the action at the Shareholders’ Meeting, you can watch the replay of it here, and check out the conversation on Twitter here.

After the Shareholders’ Meeting, we went to Walmart’s Home Office. We sat down with some of the biggest names in the company. We learned about Walmart’s sustainability efforts, what’s been done successfully and what’s being worked on still. We learned about some of the great new projects Walmart is working on… including some of the new Family Moments movies coming up! We also got to meet with Stephen Quinn (Exec VP & CMO) and voice our concerns about issues we’ve experienced or heard about from our readers. He not only listened intently, but he also went and got the heads of other departments to find out answers right away. It wasn’t just note taking and “I’ll get back to you later”. It was “How can we fix it?” and “Let’s get it done now”. It was so nice to actually be listened to and taken seriously. We opened up a great line of communication… and I invite you.. my readers.. to feel free to use my contact page if you ever experience an issue in your local store that isn’t resolved in a timely manner. I want to let you know that I am here to listen and to help… and THEY want to work on fixing things to make them better for their customers.

We also attended the Monthly Saturday Morning Meeting… We weren’t allowed to take photos or video in there, but it was also pretty intense. It was another morning of highlighting their employees. There were people there celebrating 20, 25, 30 & 35+ years with the company… To even think about having a job that you love enough to be able to stay with for so many years… That’s just amazing. I want a job like that..

All in all, it was a very awesome weekend. I went away with great feelings and hope that as a Walmart Mom, I’ll be able to make a difference… even from my itty bitty part of the interwebs.  Thanks Walmart for listening and providing me with such a great opportunity.

*I am a Walmart Mom. My trip was paid for by Walmart. The opinions in this post are my own.

]]> http://www.mommybrainreports.com/walmartmoms-trip-to-bentonville-ar/feed/ 2 http://www.mommybrainreports.com/do-you-drink-enough-water/ http://www.mommybrainreports.com/do-you-drink-enough-water/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 16:32:45 +0000 Monica http://www.mommybrainreports.com/?p=3227

I was recently chosen to be an Aquafina Mom Ambassador at Mom Central, and have been getting a chance to try out all of the flavored waters in the Aquafina Flavor Splash line of products. So far, we’ve had Lemon, Mixed Berry, Kiwi-Strawberry and Grape…

I know that many times, I look for something flavored rather than just plain water… but that’s not always the best option. I have found a good alternative that just may help you (and your kids) drink more water! Aquafina has the Flavor Splash series of waters that we’ve been able to try out as part of the Aquafina FlavorSplash Ambassador program. I was selected to try out some of the flavors they have available and let you know what I think about them!

So far, we’ve been able to try out 3 flavors, and I have to say, they are very tasty. My favorite so far is the Kiwi-Strawberry. The only thing I have to say I’m concerned about is the fact that they contain artificial sweeteners. I asked about why they add sweeteners, and their response was this:

The sweetener does change the profile of the product. Essence waters are primarily water with just a hint of flavor. FlavorSplash is for someone who likes a little more sweetness.

It’s a great way to get more water if you’re looking for an alternative to sodas, juices and other drinks that aren’t so good for you…

What do you think? Do you drink enough water? Have you tried FlavorSplash products?  Let me know!

** I am a participant in a Mom Central campaign for Aquafina FlavorSplash and have received various FlavorSplash samples to facilitate my participation. Mom Central will send me a gift card at the end of the program.

I wrote the other day that I was going to be having a Memorial Day BBQ, and Lovin’ Scoopful Ice Cream Party… Well.. That was yesterday…  and it was so much fun! My family had already tried a couple of the flavors before the party, so we just knew that our guests were going to like it… We had hoped that they would LOVE it like we do! Check out the video and see how much they really liked Lovin’ Scoopful!

PS. There’s still time to enter the giveaway! Enter before June 11th!!