Enjoy you summer weekend with MckLinky...

Why do I feel my summer has just begun and really it is halfway over? What the heck? My schedule will finally calm down after Aug. 1st. This is when I feel my summer will really begin. This is the first week I have really ventured out to take advantage of summer opportunities and we went swimming 2 times. It was awesome. Now I just have to make it though the next two weeks of deadlines, responsibilities and must attend events. Then I can really enjoy the summer I that is passing me by.

Whew, well with that out of the way I now want to welcome MckLinky. Once again Me. Linky is being stubborn, so I invited a new guest to list our links today. I know there are some wonderful giveaways going on around the bloggersphere and I want to hear about them. So let's get moving.



A couple of giveaways ending next week...


Get a Custom Blog Makeover! I know we all love makeovers. I am always making over my family blog. This wonderful site, Scrap.e.blog, also offers tons of Free backgrounds.
Enter the giveaway
HERE!!! (Ends 7/20)


Also ending this next week is the "I See Me" The World According to.... This is a wonderful book that will be written and illustrated by your child. It will be a keepsake for years.
Enter HERE!! (Ends 7/23)

ProActive Parenting Review! Two Thumbs Up!!!

A while back I introduced to you ProActive Parenting. ProActive Parenting provides audio seminars for you to download onto your computer, to your iPod, MP3 player or to burn on a CD. There are several seminars available to help you become a better parent and better understand your child. Sharon Silver, the creator of ProActive Parenting sent me the Everyday Solutions Series. This Series included each of the 10 seminars which include whining, siblings, interrupting, yelling and more.

I think I am like most moms, where I wonder, "What am I doing wrong?". I have struggled the past while trying to get my children to listen to me, not interrupt me and stop doing something they shouldn't be doing. I thought maybe I needed to be more strict with them and that if I used a stern tone they would stop and listen to me. This has not worked. In fact this has only made them use the same tone towards me or towards each other. I on the other hand have only gotten loader with my voice and at times I am find myself yelling. Well, I finally made the time to listen to these wonderful seminars. I now wonder what made it so difficult for me to just turn them on. It was so easy to listen to these as I was cleaning in the house or making dinner. So let me tell you a bit of what I learned.

I loved these seminars. I have only gotten through three of them as of now, but have listened to two of them twice. There is so much wonderful information and great ideas on correcting your approach when it comes to dealing with your toddler. I have learned that my stern (yelling) approach is only preparing my children to treat me that same way as they become older. If I handle situations by reacting with a load voice, they are going to do the same towards me, which I am already starting to see (I know I am not the only parent who loses my cool). Another discipline tactic I and others overuse is "Time Out". I use timeout daily and I have used it as part of my disciplining. The truth is "Time out" was originally made to help the child and the parent calm down so that they could discuss the problem and have the right mind to do so. Now a days we are threatening with time outs left and right and not really giving the child or your self the chance to calm down before discussing the situation. With this knowledge and other wonderful techniques taught in ProActive seminars, "Time Out" is not a daily routine. If "time out" is used, I inform my child that they need to calm down and ask them to sit and take deep breaths until they feel calm. In the mean time, I do the same and inform them when I am ready to talk as well. This approach has really helped us communicate a lot better. My little boy also feels like I am understanding his needs more and am listening to his frustrations and needs. Again, "Time Out" is now rarely used in my house now because of how I view "time outs" and because of the other techniques used from ProActive Parenting.

Just from the 3 seminars I have listened to, I have learned so much. I have only shared with you just a small portion of what I have learned. Before I close I would like to share one of my favorite techniques I learned from the ProActive Parenting seminar "Interrupting- Not Now I'm Talking". Sometimes I feel like my children are just waiting for me to pick up that phone. They can be being angels at the moment, but as soon as I pick up that phone they attack. Especially my 4 year old. He tries to come up with every question possible while I'm on the phone to see if he can get my attention. I have never known what to do during this except to either hang up with the other person on the line or to threaten my son by taking a special toy away if he doesn't stop. These have never solved the problem. Now I use the touch approach. With this you teach the child that if they have something to say to you while you are on the phone, they need to use the touch approach. Here they will touch your arm and wait for you to make eye contact with them. Touching your arm while you are busy, allows them to know that you are aware they are there. I also like to touch my sons hand at this time so he knows I will get to him when I am ready. When the parent is ready to talk, they will give the child eye contact and depending on the situation they can ask them to whisper in their ear what they need or ask them out load. This really works! My son loves it and thinks it is a game. We will sometimes practice it to refresh his mind on how he needs approach this situation.

I love the Proactive Parenting seminars because they give you the calm way to approach common parenting situations. These approaches also are made to correct the problem and not just a way to deal with them temporarily. Too often parents use forms of discipline to handle a situation the quickest way possible. If you have anything with your toddler that you are particularly struggling with, I recommend you head over to ProActive Parenting. Here you will learn how to get rid of threats and timeouts and solve the problem in a more permanent way.

Sharon Silver is a mom, an educator, and a powerful speaker. Her mission has always been to create programs that help parents focus on what else can be done instead of going straight to punishment. Her commitment to children and families has even resulted in her appearance on an episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show called “Hitting, Spanking, Smacking: Should it happen to your child?”

SlimPerfect 50% Discount!!!

Was: 99.90
Now: 74.90
With 50% discount: $37.45

I am a huge fan of SlimPerfect and their active/swimwear. If you haven't heard of SlimPerfect, it was listed as a top brand in an article by O Magazine at Oprah.com titled "Best Bathing Suits For Any Body (Yes, We Mean Yours).

Right now SlimPerfect is offering their BlogHer promotion to the public. This gives you a %50 discount off all ready reduced sale prices. This is for a limited time only and ends Aug. 1st, 2009. You can use the promo code "BlogHer" at the checkout. This will be their biggest sale and promotion of the year.

I love my SlimPerfect attire. I use mine mostly as a swimsuit and I can't begin to tell you how comfortable and slimming I feel in it. If you are looking for an awesome swimsuit, that will flatter any body and at a great price.... You better take this discount and run. For a active/swimwear this excellent, you won't find a better price.


Was $59/90
Now $29.90
With 50% discount: $14.95


Was: $59.90
Now: $29.90
With 50% discount: $14.95


Again the Code is "BlogHer" and expires Aug 1, 2009

Giveaway Ending!

The giveaway for this Expresso Set will be ending Thursday night. Head on over to the Home Decor Giveaway to win!


Other giveaways going at this time are...

* Scrap.e.blog Giveaway where you can win a blog makeover (ends 7/20)

* I See Me, "The World According To..." Giveaway which is a personalized book written and illustrated by your child. (ends 7/23)

* TSP Spices Giveaway where you can win some organic spices (ends 7/31)

JumpStart Winner!!!

Congrats #18 Jay
Enjoy your 3 month membership to JumpStart or at least let your son enjoy it ;0)

*You have been emailed and have 48 hours to redeem your prize!

"TSP Spices" review and giveaway!!! (CLOSED)

I love spices. I love adding spices to my meal and making it my own. Spices can really help turn a basic plain meal into something more exquisite and new. I was extremely excited when I happened upon "TSP Spices". TSP Spices has all organic spices and offers every common spice and more. What makes these organic spices so great? Organic agriculture limits the use of potentially harmful chemicals. This means the spices are created from crops that are better for you and your families health. TSP Spices wants to assure their customers that their products are high quality and free of the additives or fillers that are often found in spices.

Creators Katie and Sara are both career women and mothers who put their minds together to bring to you the perfect spice. To help you with your spice use, they offer recipes for each spice available at their site. Katie and Sara also have the publication of their first book, The Spices Kitchen, which will be released this fall. The Spice Kitchen offers more than one hundred delicious recipes for using herbs and spices to add vibrant flavors to your food at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and any time in between. To read more you can click here!




The Review:
I received the Sunshine Zest Sampler. Included was packets of Orange Zest and Lemon Zest. First off the containers the spices come in are adorable. These would make excellent gifts, especially for christmas. They even have a set for the Holidays which would be perfect.

I loved playing around with these spices. I think my husband and kids enjoyed these as well, because I was more motivated to cook and try new things. My favorite was using the Orange Zest with my oatmeal. I loved the change of flavor. The taste was much fresher than buying the sugar loaded flavored oatmeal. When I got a little fancy I made TSP Spices Apple Oatmeal Crisp recipe and used the Lemon Zest. I highly recommend this recipe.

I have been dying to make banana bread and noticed that Lemon Zest is recommended for this. It said you could use 1-2 tsp of the Lemon Zest. I only used 1 tsp and wish I would have used 2 instead. The flavoring wasn't as strong as I wanted, but I did like what I could taste. After playing around with the spices I realized that it wasn't bad to add a little extra. I always am hesitant to add too much, but these spices were so great that towards the end of experimenting I only wanted to add more.

The Giveaway:
One winner will get to choose either the Herb Sampler or Sunshine Zest.

To Enter:
Visit "TSP Spices" and look around. Come back and tell me what spices you would like to try.

*Extra Entries*
-Grab my button
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-Follow me on Twitter
-Blog about this post or Tweet it! (Be sure to leave the link)

Rules:
Be sure to leave a comment telling me what the entry is for. Leave a separate comment for each entry. Also be sure to leave an email address for me to contact you. A winner will be selected randomly using Random.org. They will have 48 hours to reply or a new winner will be chosen. US and Canada!

Giveaway Ends: July 31, 2009

True Love...

8 years ago...
My husband and I met each other the first day of college and we immediately hit it off, or so I thought. He used his smooth talk and somehow managed to get me to go to some college social/dance. Here we danced practically every other song.... Long story short, my future husband also danced all the other songs with some other girl. Both, the other girl and I must have been thinking the same thing, "We sure got this guy hooked". By the end of the night I was floating in air. That was until I went to say goodbye and swap numbers with this tall and handsome fellow, only to find him sitting mighty close to some other girl. You guessed it. The girl who, he danced with on all the other songs. When I saw how close they were sitting I almost didn't want to approach him, but he saw me and so I just told him I was I was stopping to say bye and had to go. He then got up and said he wanted to say goodbye to my friends. It was pretty odd since he hardly knew my friends. It all made sense when he immediately asked me for my number once the other girl was out of site. Hmmm? I gave it to him and waited for him to call... (I know... What was I thinking?)

1 Month later:
Still hadn't heard from that cute guy. I did however run into him after class one day. He somehow had the nerve to say, "I was going to call you the other day....". He wasn't so smooth at that moment. Then and there he asked me out and I hated to hurt the poor guys feelings who had just put his foot in his mouth, so I said, "sure".

9 Months Later:
9 months later we were married. You may think it is because of where I am from, but it is just because he realized what a catch I was. He wasn't about to let me go now!

7 Years Later:
We are happy to say we have two of the cutest kids, who were in fact not planned. Actually they were anything but planned. Those who personally know me know the story. Those who don't, here you go.

First pregnancy happened when I had had it with birth control and my husband had it with using the glove. He sort of thinks he's a doctor since he works with them with his job. He heard of this thing called "The Family Planning Method". It can be used wither to get pregnant or prevent pregnancy, the natural way. I was totally against it, but somehow he smoothed talked me into this as well. I explained to him that not all women's cycle is the same, no matter how normal their periods are. Well, first time using this method I got pregnant. I still remember my first words when I saw the test was positive.... I will not repeat them.

My second pregnancy happened a little different. We were living with his parents at the time, waiting for our home to be finished getting built. I did not like the idea of getting pregnant in his parents house, the thought sort of weirded me out, and I did not want to move into a new home all big and pregnant. I won the battle this time and the glove was back on. This time I heard my husband say some great words in the bathroom, after our little romantic moment. I went to see what the fuss was and sure enough, the condom broke. What makes it even better was this one time, I got pregnant. (My child is proof condoms can break and it takes only one time).

Basically I learned birth control has no power over God's will. That or my husband just has to stop believing he is a doctor and knows which birth control works best... (Well I guess my method wasn't all that great either)

Present Time:
Here we are, two children later. No couples life goes smooth, but I like to think we have a little extra bumps in ours. Actually I think our life is much like a sitcom. Let me share more.

So this last May I received a phone call from my mother in law. She mentioned how our 7 year anniversary was coming up and asked if we wanted her to watch the kids. I was shopping at the store and immediately stopped my cart. "Crap", I thought, my anniversary was the next day and I had completely forgotten. Good news is I knew I could count on my hubby to forget too. I called my husband up and asked if anything special was coming up and he answered "no". I mentioned our anniversary date and of course he said, "doesn't sound familiar".

"Whew"! I was off the hook since both of us had forgotten our 7 year anniversary... Our is it our 8th?

This is what I call "True Love". Even after all of our mistakes and our surprises, we still love each other. We are the sort of couple who can laugh at our mistakes and find some positives in those little surprises that enter our lives. We have been blessed with two adorable children and more importantly each other. We will love each other through better or worse, forgetfulness is also included.



So now you know a little more about me and my family who is at my side. I want to continue to share these funny moments with you. Not because we don't have our trials, because we do. Trust me. We have had some of the biggest trials and challenges face us these last few years. But instead of sharing with you the most difficult times, which we all have, I want to try to share with you some of these moments that make our lives unique. The moments that make us stop and realize what we have been blessed with and what we should hold on to. The moments that make us smile. My family brings all of these moments to mind. So every now and then I will share more with you and hopefully it can bring a smile to your face like it has mine.

Remember those moments that can bring a smile to you face.

Take Care,
Mama Snow

Super Excited!

I am so excited right now because I am working with some fantastic bloggers to bring you some great tips and advice on a variety of subjects. These are all of my "Guest Editors/bloggers" who I will be introducing to you throughout the next months or so. I would like to spotlight one or more a week.

I just recieved my first post from Shannon of "Milk and Cuddles". She is wrote an excellent article on "Making Homemade Baby Food". Be on the lookout for this in the nxt two weeks. It is very informative and fun. There are also several other topics that we will be bringing you such as, "Creating Healthy Kids", "Cooking", "Childbirth", "Vacationing on a budget" and more. I also am very excited to introduce to you another blogger who is very inspiring and whom I expect will touch many of our hearts. This blogger is the creator of "Thirty Something Land".

In the mean time keep sending me those topic ideas. I have received some that I hope to share with you soon. Many I hadn't even thought of, which makes it even more exciting to hear about. My husband has also asked that I share some of my humorous moments as a mommy. He thinks we have the funniest kids.... That or the most out of control wife. Either way, I agree that you would probably enjoy some of these stories. it is moments like these that help us appreciate and enjoy life. It is important to find humor, even at the most frustrating moment (kids can do that for you).

Have a wonderful day and be sure to check in later to "Catch the Drift with Mama Snow".