“I served a wide variety of vegetables to my children from the time they could eat solid food. By the time they were 3-5 years old their favorite food was a big salad, steamed broccoli which were called “trees”, or steamed cauliflower. Even after they got much older they opted for a second (or third) serving of vegetables rather than dessert when it was served which wasn’t often because it tended to go bad because nobody would eat it. The only thing I disguise now is to throw my beans in a blender before adding them to my chili. The kids like it better that way and it creates a better consistency in the chili.”

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to enter! I couldn’t believe all the great advice you all offered for encouraging healthy eating in your homes. It was such a fun discussion and gave me lots of new ideas for ways to incorporate more good eating in our house.

Thanks again and we look forward to offering many giveaways on our site in the future!

We were one of twenty bloggers selected to review Horizon Organics Plus with DHA Milk through a blogging campaign sponsored by Mom Central. I jumped at the chance to participate because I had, personally, had never tried organic milk and wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Horizon Organic Milk plus DHA is unique because it is the only milk enhanced with an Omega-3 fatty acid that helps support heart, brain and eye health, which the FDA reports as critical for our kids. Drinking organic milk is also encouraged (and a hot topic among mothers) as a good choice for families because organic milk lacks the growth hormones, antibiotics, and the pesticides in it that regular milk contains.

I have to say, this stuff was surprisingly good, although I would admit that it is easy to beat the taste of skim milk with just about anything! It had a very full flavor and the taste was very rich. To me, this milk tastes like whole milk (even though it was 2%) and it had a lovely flavor that I enjoyed!

Would you like to try this for yourself? I am going to be offering one lucky winner the chance to win coupons for THREE containers of Horizon Organic Milk. Please visit this link for contest details!

Website for More Details: Horizon Organic

This week is Brain Awareness week and to promote this important week, Horizon Organic (sponsored through Mom Central) is giving me three coupons to give away to a lucky winner for three half gallons Horizon Organics Plus with DHA Milk… for free!

They have lots of fun stuff to do on their website and would love for you to check it out!

After you have browsed their website, here is what you will need to do to enter the contest!

Please leave a comment by Friday (03/14) at 8PM and tell me one of the ways you encourage healthy eating in your children. Your comment does not have to be related to organic eating, but you can include any tips at all for encouraging healthy development in your children! Make sure that your name is clickable or that you provide a valid email address so that I can contact you directly.

And while you are perusing our site, be sure to enter our Geek Squad Giveaway and check our latest entries for fun children’s soaps and a great phone for work-at-home moms!

Plantronics Calisto Pro Series Phone is a great high-tech phone for moms who work from home. It’s an all-in-one home phone system that offers three ways to talk — Remotely switching between landline, VoIP and mobile calls with a single touch of a button.

We have been using this phone for a couple of weeks now and I love it. The clarity is sharp on this model and I appreciate the fact that I can be doing what I need to get done around my house without lugging or trying to balance my phone with me. The headset switches easily between my cell phone (which supports Bluetooth capabilities) and my landline with ease, making it easier for me to take my calls for work while caring for two small children.

It has many advanced features such as being able to download up to 200 Microsoft Outlook contacts into the phone itself, you can switch to the headset and take calls on your mobile phone through the headset, it supports call waiting & caller id, and the company says that this phone can work with phone services like Skype (although I haven’t tried this yet!)

The thing I appreciated most about the product is that it was simple for a technology-challenged mom. Although it had advanced features, the product was simple and straightforward, which gives it two thumbs up in my book.

I think this is a great product for moms (or dads) who have home-based businesses that require lots of time on the telephone. The ease with which you can switch to the headset makes keeping in touch and taking client calls much easier for me.

The downside is that the price point on this phone is high so I would invest in this only if you have are operating a busy home business that requires lots of phone time!

Suggested Retail Price: $279.95, but currently listed on Amazon at $259.87

Website for More Details: Plantronics Calisto Pro Series Phone

I received two new products from the Johnson & Johnson company to sample- Johnson’s Bedtime Toddler Wash & Johnson’s Bedtime Easy-Grip Toddler Sudzing Bars.

Johnson’s new products are now formulated with a trademark called, “Natural Calm”which is a patent-pending essence that has been tested and proven to have relaxing properties in it. These products are often endorsed by sleep experts to help babies and toddlers fall asleep easier and sleep through the night better.

I don’t know about all of the hype, but I find the scent to be quite wonderful and I was excited for the kids to try their new line of bar soaps. I don’t typically give my children bar soaps to clean with because it would be too difficult for them to keep a grip on them, but these soaps come in a grippy material that makes it easy for little hands to hold their own soap and get clean without mommy’s help. My children loved this soap and felt grown-up holding their own bars and washing up. Even my two year old could easily hold her own soap and get herself clean.

This scent also comes in a toddler wash that contains moisturizers to leave their skin nice and soft. We liked this wash too, but the kids had a lot more fun having their own individual soap bars.

Suggested Retail Price: Johnson’s Bedtime Toddler Wash ($3.49 for 8.4 oz) & Johson’s Bedtime Easy-Grip Sudzing Bar ($3.49 for 3 bars). I noticed though that Johnson’s offers coupons and guides for parents where you can get coupons for their products so check this site before buying!

Website for more details: Johson’s Baby

To kick off our relationship with the company, the Geek Squad is offering one lucky reader a gift card for $169 to be put towards the Geek Squad helping put in a wireless network in your home! How cool is that?

Here is a description of the service and how this giveaway will work:

Bye-bye Wires. Home networks are efficient and convenient, but the mess of wires and cables involved can hold you captive to a few locations in your home. A Geek Squad’s Network Installation takes care of setting up a wireless network for you. Once you receive your gift certificate, just call 1-800-GEEK-SQUAD (800 433 5778) to make an appointment. An agent will arrive to your rescue in a signature GeekMobile. You’ll recognize an Agent by their short-sleeved white shirt, black pants, shoes, belt and clip-on tie. After the agent goes to town on your computer….voila, no more wires. For more on Geek Squad, visit their website. The Geek Squad is comprised of highly trained and mobile individuals, or Agents, who are dedicated to making your computer(s) work properly. These people have banded together and sworn to rid the earth of inferior computer behavior.

More about the service:

Network Installation

Share the Internet, printers, and files from anywhere in your home or office with a secure Geek Squad-installed wireless network.

An Agent Will:

Set up or troubleshoot your wired/wireless router* to work with your two-computer network

Set up wireless encryption

Configure file sharing of at least one directory between computers

Configure printer sharing of one functional printer between computers

Rules for Entry: To enter this giveaway, please leave us a comment by March 19th at 8PM. In your comment, please share one thing you would like our new resident Tech Mom to cover about computers- ANYTHING you are struggling with understanding is fair game for discussion on future features. Make sure that your name is clickable OR that you provide a valid email address where you can be contacted if you win! Our winner will be notified by email. Good luck to each of you!

A big congratulations to our winner… #29!

Naomi said:

“Maternity Demi Panel Original Boot Leg Jeans and the ruffled Henley long sleeved top. My neice would LOVE this outfit. She is in great need of some well-fitting maternity clothes right now.”

What a lucky niece! Congratulations to our mommy-to-be! And another big round of thanks to Ann Taylor for letting one of our readers benefit from their fabulous new maternity line. Be sure to visit their website for your maternity wardrobe needs.

Should I not be able to contact Naomi, I will be sure to draw another winner! Thank you for entering and check back here TOMORROW for another awesome giveaway. This one will be valued at $169!!

I can’t wait!

I am really excited about sharing this giveaway with all of you! Ann Taylor LOFT has added a maternity line and they are offering one of my lucky readers the chance to put together her dream maternity outfit for free!

Ann Taylor LOFT provides women with updated classics that are feminine, stylish, and polished. Now the company has taken another step forward in outfitting women across all aspects of their evolving lifestyle, by taking the look and feel of favorite LOFT styles and re-designing them to make maternity wear that is both functional, stylish, and makes women feel their best!

Rules for Entering:

1. Visit the Ann Taylor LOFT site and choose your favorite maternity outfit.

2. Please enter our giveaway by letting us know what your favorite outfit is by Monday, March 3rd at 8PM. Make sure that you provide a valid email address so you can be contacted.

3. The winner will be drawn at random on March 3rd at 8PM.

4. Sorry, but this contest is only open to US Residents.

Good luck, everyone! I hope that one of you is the lucky winner. Please feel free to share this contest with your friends and family. I am so excited to be sharing this with all of you and can’t wait to make one little mommy happy!

I would like to congratulate Lori Holland on winning our contest. This was her entry:

My children gave me a coupon book one year that I absolutely loved. It included breakfast in bed, supper, dishes washed, a quiet evening in which they would play together and behave, a load of clothing washed and dried, bedrooms cleaned without asking, and several kisses. Of course, Dad got the worst end of that because he had to help with all the coupons and I used every single one.

My daughter asked for some Hannah Montana valentines yesterday and since the divorce with her daddy I can’t always get her everything she wants so these valetines would be a great way to pay her back for the hard work she put into the coupons that Valentines Day.

Congratulations, Lori! You and your daughter deserve these special Valentines.

Lastly, another big thank you to the ladies at Pose Prints for making this giveaway possible. It has been a pleasure to work with them and we can’t recommend their stationary enough! Please check out their site- it is a blast to create this stationary.

Pose Prints has just launched a “Little Girls” Pose Print line so that you can now personalize stationary for every little girl in your life. These are so precious and would be wonderful to personalize for Valentine’s Day.

The company has graciously offered to do a giveaway with us so that you can personalize stationary for a special little girl in your life. The winner of this giveaway will get a stationary set of fifteen cards with envelopes specially designed just for you & yours.
To enter this contest, please share your favorite Valentine’s Day memory- whether it be a childhood memory or an adult memory. We will chose the best entry and announce the winner on Monday.

Entries are due by this Sunday (01/27) at 8PM.

Good luck, everyone!