Wordless Wednesday: May 30, 2012 (w/linky)- Poor Sick Girls

So this is why we didn't get anything done last week. Poor little things spent most of 3 days sleeping. These pictures are all from the same day (I believe Wednesday). They would wake up enough to move a bit and then lay back down.

<a href="http://totsandme.blogspot.com/search/label/Wordless%20Wednesday/"><img alt="Tots and Me" src="http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt58/kewkewphoto/001-4-1.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a>

Tiny Talk Tuesday: May 29, 2012

It was so cute yesterday. I am a tad impressed by the workings of my daughter's brain. I had been passing out watermelon cubes and had placed 3 in front of Tabitha. As the bowl went around the table I decided they could have 10 pieces. I asked Tabitha how many more pieces she would need to make 10. She thought about it a few seconds and said, "Two and Five."

Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up- May 29, 2012

<a href="http://www.classifiedmom.com/search/label/Tuesday%27s%20Giveaway%20Link%20Up" target="_blank"><img alt="Classified: Mom" src="http://classifiedmom.webs.com/TGL.png"/></a>

Welcome to Tuesday's Giveaway Link Up with your hosts Aimee @ Classified: Mom & Karen @ Tots and Me & Alicia @ McCrenshaw's Newest Thoughts!

This link up will be posted Monday at 7 PM est. and run all week long! Make sure you stop in as often as you can to list your latest giveaways.

Here is how to use the Giveaway Link Up



1. Post your reviews and/or giveaways, as many as you have, be sure to add the end date (family friendly please)



2. Help spread the word about the giveaway link up by grabbing our button, Tweeting or posting on Facebook. (Not mandatory- but it helps get more exposure to your giveaways as well!)



3. Take a moment to enter any giveaway that strikes an interest to you!



If you would  like to follow the three hostesses, we will gladly follow you back! Simply leave us a message to do so.





Thank you for linking up with  Aimee @ Classified: Mom & Karen @ Tots and Me & Alicia @  McCrenshaw's Newest Thoughts! 

Muffin Tin Monday: Red, White and Blue

Happy Memorial Day

Today's muffin tin is just a Red White and Blue muffin Tin. The girls seem to be enjoying it.

Red grape tomatoes

White Cheddar Cheese Star

Blue Drink

Red, white and blue fruit salad consisting of blueberries, watermelon and cool whip. (It was supposed to be apples for the white, but we didn't have any.

Red, white and blue Jell-o salad (the white is cool whip again)

Peanut butter and apple butter star sandwich

And here is baby Harold (with daddy Harold) sharing in the festivities with his cute outfit.

Free Sign Ups for Fire and Ice Father's Day Giveaway

Here is a new Free Blogger Sign up for Father's Day with some cool prizes. Some for dad and some for dad to give to mom.
It is the Fire and Ice Father's Day Giveaway.

Dates are May 28th 12:01 am to June 8th 12:01 am.
There are grill related prizes and a NorCross Hawkeye F33P Portable Fish Finder Valued at $50. Then there is also some jewelry.


You can choose to be a sponsor for $10 which will give you back links, twitter, Facebook and third url option for a feed or follow.
You can also choose to host by paying $2 or sharing a post (as I am doing) to spread the word.
Check it out and fill out the form here. (And it does start on May 28th, not on the 27th as stated in the form. I asked her)

Scavenger Hunt Sunday: May 27, 2012

Scavenger Hunt Sunday items: Beneath Your Feet, Capturing Movement, Texture, Face Your Fears and Currently
Beneath Your Feet

If I walk up the steps in the front of our house I will find broken concrete and weeds under my feet. We don't use this door and this is one of the reasons. 

Capturing Movement

I am not sure if I really like this picture of our fan.

But I know I love the shots of my little guy and all his excited movement when we play and conversate.

Texture

I took this shot while we were outside getting ready for our first picnic/cook out of the year. Our tree is surrounded by this big rocks and inside the rocks are some plants and this piece of wood. (This was all here when we moved in)

Face Your Fears

I am facing my fears of bees/wasps to weed around our front porch. We have seen yellow jackets flying around the corner of the porch and going underneath. Here's hoping there is no nest, but I think there is. 

Currently

We need it weeded because we are currently focused on gardens in our lesson time and we want to plant some sunflowers. 

And linking up my favorite photo 

(He loves to sit in the corner of the couch and socialize with me (and sissies). I love his expression here.

with:

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Lovin' The Weekend Blog Hops Week 34: May 25-May27 2012

Welcome to the thirty-fourth weekend of Lovin' the Weekend Blog Hops.

Come and see what is new!

Giveaway Linky is the bottom linky!

First things first:

Don't forget to check out my co-host's blog

In case you didn't know, I have also started randomly choosing a Featured host each week from the Lovin' The Readers linky. Unfortunately this week I waited a little late to contact the person whose blog I randomly drew. As I have not heard from her yet there will be no Featured Host this week. As of right now she will be next week's Featured Host. If I don't hear from her I will draw someone new for next week. 

Please make sure to stop by and say hi to my co-host though. Don't forget to link up to the Lovin' the Readers Hop if you would like a chance to be a Featured host next week. Please comment with a way to contact you, especially if there is not an obvious way mentioned on your blog. I would love to include a little write up about you and your blog in the next week's Lovin' The Weekend Blog Hop post, including a link to your blog. And you will get to include the linky codes on your blog. Sound fun? Looking forward to getting to know my readers better.

Here's how this blog hop works. I would appreciate it if you would follow me and my co-host via GFC. If you no longer have GFC please follow me some other way. After that there are three different linkys you can link to. Whichever one you choose to link to, please grab that button and share it on your blog (the codes are on my sidebar). I'd love it if you could tweet or in some other way share about this blog hop, the more people who know about it, the more potential visitors and new followers of your blog. I'd love to meet some new friends this weekend.  

I have noticed that some people are more interested in just increasing their numbers, while others really want people who appreciate their blog and want to keep up with their posts. So, I decided to create two separate linkys. The third linky is for you to link up your giveaways.

If you are interested in increasing the number of followers to your blog via GFC, Linky Followers, email, Twitter, Facebook or Google+ link up here. I will follow you back if you follow me (just note which one you are linking to):

If you are interested in gaining followers to your blog who will read and comment and truly find an interest in your blog, link up here:

If you have family friendly giveaways to link up, here's your spot. Please make sure to include an end date for your giveaway.

I am so glad you stopped by. Please leave a comment if you link up and I will be sure to stop by and follow back.

Don't forget to check out my "Blog Hops" page for other great weekend blog hops!!

Don't forget to check out:

One ends tomorrow and the last one starts on Monday.

Giveaway Winner Announcement-Kindle

The winner of the Kindle Fire is.......entry number #157,760 put in by 

**********REGINA MALLOY! *****************

Regina's method of entry will be verified, if it is not valid a new winner will be selected. Regina, I just sent you an email you have 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen! Congratulations on your new Kindle Fire! 

Free Sign Ups for Baby Shower Celebration-My Day Registry

It's Coming

My last Baby Shower Celebration Giveaway is almost here. And I would love your help promoting it! 

A great gift, not only for a Baby Shower or birth of a baby, but for many special occasions in your life (or maybe just for the person who is hard to buy for). Check out my Sponsor Spotlight post for more information.

You can sign up for free, no fees at all. All I ask is that you help get the word out about my giveaway to help celebrate our baby boy.  I ask that you post the giveaway with Rafflecopter on your blog when it goes live on May 28th. In addition, I ask that you post on Facebook and/or Twitter at least 3 times. Once at the beginning, once in the middle and once on the last day as a reminder. If you agree to do this you can sign up and receive 1 Free link on my Rafflecopter form (Facebook). 

In addition, if you share about these Free Sign Ups on your blog or Facebook page I will give you a second link (Twitter).  However, this is completely optional.

Sign ups are open until May 26th at 10pm.

You can check out the form for the complete details.

Click here to sign up to participate in my Baby Shower Celebration My Day Registry event

Baby Shower Celebration: Sponsor Spotlight: My Day Registry

What better way to celebrate the birth of a child than to register the day as his or her very own. I have saved this very special sponsor for last. A way to close out my Baby Shower Celebration with a bang. I realize these giveaways have gone on a lot longer than planned. After having 6 other children you would have thought I would have known that there was no way I was going to have decent computer time with a newborn. I hope you have enjoyed all the great Baby and Mommy giveaways that have been a part of my Baby Shower Celebration. Now, to spotlight my last sponsor. 

"MyDayRegistry is a unique online registry that allows you to dedicate and register a specific day to recognize a special person or event in your life. It's a great way to let family and friends know how much they mean to you and makes for a creative and thoughtful gift that lasts a lifetime! "

What a wonderful and unique gift to give someone for the birth of their baby. 

"When you dedicate a day to yourself or a loved one, you receive a beautifully framed certificate as proof of registration and ownership."

Every certificate is printed on a beautiful high quality parchment paper and personalized for your special occasion in modern calligraphy.

The certificate is then set in a contemporary floating frame of your choice—a perfect conversation piece for the home or office!

Of course, registering the birth of a baby would be awesome, a wonderful welcome into this world. But there are so many other occasions you could choose from. 

Wedding Day

Anniversaries

Birthdays (especially milestone birthdays like Sweet 16)

Mother's Day (how about 1st Mother's Day)

Father's Day( yep, 1st Father's Day would be special too)

Graduation (preschool, high school, college, etc)

And the list goes on and on. What special day can you think of that you would like to commemorate? Would you want to register a day for yourself? Would you register the day for someone special in your life? 

The possibilities are endless!!

Not only do you get to register the day in one of three registries (your state, your country-United States, United Kingdom, Canada or Australia, or worldwide) and receive an awesome certificate like the one pictured above, but you also get to create your online profile.

"Every registered owner receives an online profile that can be personalized with pictures, video, and more!

Every owner's exclusive title and ownership rights are recorded in the official International Day Registry database."

Head on over to mydayregistry.com and check it out. 

And then stop by next week for my review and a great giveaway. Just a little hint, there will be more than one winner!!
(And if you are a blogger, stop by here to join in with my Free Blogger Opp)

The Baby Shower Celebration has obviously been extended so please ignore the dates on the image (I just didn't have any time to make a new one) It was extended because of several unforeseen circumstances. 

Free Sign Ups for the New iPad

I am excited to share another FREE Blogger Event with you. This is not the giveaway (that start July 1st so stay tuned). If you are a blogger and would like to join in, here is the information: 

The New iPad Giveaway Event is a free blogger event. You will receive one link at no cost as a thank you for participating in this event.

If you choose to sign up please mention that Tots and Me referred you (there will be a spot on the sign up form). Thank you so much.

Free Link options are: Email, RSS, Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Prize: The New iPad ~ iPad3 16GB (value $499)

Open to: Worldwide (note – non-US residents will receive the cash equivalent).

The event dates: July 1 at 12:01 am to July 15 11:59am

What is required to join? 

• Post about the event with the button linking back to the original post. Feel free to copy paste this (below) along with the button.

Mom to Bed by 8, the Iowa-Mom is proud to present the The New iPad Giveaway Event, sponsored by BeeSavy. Event dates: July 1 to July 15.

Details: This is a free blogger event, open worldwide and blog accepting sign ups now. Join The New iPad Giveaway event with special co-host voiceBoks today!

• If you do not wish to post the announcement, send the $5 via paypal to goodnightmommyboutique@gmail.com with your email address and BeeSavy Event in subject line or notes portion of the form.
• Once you have posted your announcement or sent the paypal payment, fill out this form.
• You will receive an email from within 7 days, confirming your participation. If you do not, please email Teri at teri@momtobedby8.com and she will check into it for you.
• Then around June 28^th you will receive another email from with the html code for publishing the giveaway.  Note it is required that you publish the giveaway html in full to be included in this event. She will verify links on July 1^st around 8am central and if you have not done so, your link on the rafflecopter will be removed. This keeps this event fair for all who joins.

Referral prize: The top referrer will receive $50 paypal or Amazon credit for your effort. Then the top 2 runners-up will receive $10 paypal or Amazon credit Just make sure to add-on your announcement that they should add your blog name or url in the referred by section on the sign up form. This bonus will be paid the on June 2^nd after your referral links have been verified.

FunBites Review and Giveaway

I saw this intriguing product floating around the blog-o-sphere and wasn't sure how exactly it worked. At first it didn't make sense to me. But I wanted to learn more, and am I glad I did. Let me introduce you to FunBites. I was given the opportunity to try out the Cube It! Fun Bites Cutter and was able to see for myself how it worked.

Have you ever cut out cookies or sandwiches or other food items into little pieces and had it take forever to cut out? Or have you ever used small cookie cutters and had the food stick in the cutter? With the FunBites cutter you can cut little pieces quickly, safely and uniformly. And then you can easily remove them by pushing the popper top in.

This is the cutter:

And this is the popper top:

I enjoyed using this to make our muffin tin meal a couple of weeks ago. I used it on all sorts of food. 

Cheeses, meats, vegetables, fruits and a sandwich.

Not only is this easy to use, it is actually quite fun!

Push the cutter into the food and rock it back and forth a few times.

See, it went right through the sandwich.

Insert the popper top and push it through. (No, this wasn't the sandwich, I forgot to take a picture of the sandwich being popped out.)

Out pops the bite-sized pieces of food.

Make a fun meal. This was our Patterns Muffin Tin.

And some melon for dessert.

The FunBites cutter worked well on all the food, except for a little extra rocking needed for the green pepper with its thick skin. However, it was cut through enough that I just needed to break the pieces apart.

Now, you are probably thinking it looks like there is a lot of waste with the crust and pieces of veggies and fruit. That made a nice lunch for mommy.

Oh, and mommy did enjoy a few of the bite-sized pieces. There is something yummy about eating little bite-sized pieces. And I guess if it amuses this mommy so much it has got to be fun for children, even picky children. 

I guess the one thing I had concerns about was not knowing for sure if I have it clean enough in the crevices. Yes, it is able to go in the dish washer (top rack only), but then I would end up with water in the holes. So I washed it by hand after soaking it, and rinsed it really well. 

In spite of that, I love so many things about the FunBites Cutter:

I love that it is BPA free. I love the ease of use and the uniform shapes that were cut out. The food just looks so cute. Not only did I love this, but the children did too.

And it is very important to me that it is made in the USA.

Do you like to create fun lunches for your child? Do you want to cut fun finger foods for a party? Do you have a picky eater? Then you have got to check out FunBites. 

Head on over to their site for ideas, instructions and a video.

And check them out of Facebook and Twitter.

I have been given the opportunity to give you a chance to win a FunBites of your very own. You get to choose between the Cube It! and Love It! Cutter. Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. And, as always, you do NOT have to fill out every entry. There is only 1 mandatory entry. But the more entries you fill out the better your chances of winning. And don't forget to stop by daily to fill out your daily entries.

Giveaway is open to US and Canada

Giveaway runs May 24th 12:01am through June 9th 11:59pm