The Mommy Card | Business Cards For Moms! {Giveaway}

Ended - Congratulations Marie! Waiting for confirmation

I have been wanting to get business cards for my blog for some time and have really done some searching, looking for just the right card and company. I am thrilled that I found The Mommy Card because my business cards (Hampton) are simply beautiful.

Amy, the mom behind The Mommy Card, was so helpful. I have a long email and website address, so I was impressed that she was able to fit both of them on the card without it looking scrunched and unreadable. The card itself is a wonderful 14 pt UV cardstock so they are very sturdy and water resistant. The pattern continues on the other side as well and makes them look incredibly unique and classy. These are professional looking and I get compliments on them every time I hand one out.

The Mommy Card has so many different cards to choose from. The photo business cards are fabulous as well as the medical/allergies cards, family business cards/moving cards, and truly one-of-a-kind holiday business cards. The designs are so fresh and current and you can either stand out or be more subtle. All the cards she offers are customizable and Amy will work with you to find the card that is right for you and fits your needs.

When shopping, I look to support mom owned/run companies if at all possible. I am proud to be helping get the word out about this mom run and owned company. I am truly thrilled with my cards and would recommend this business to anyone looking for any type of business card. Prices start at $40 for 200 cards - one of the best deals I found anywhere.

WIN IT!: The Mommy Card is offering one of my readers a $40 Gift Certificate!!

TO ENTER: Go the The Mommy Card and tell me what design is your favorite. It would be hard to pick just one, so feel free to leave more than one design choice.
This is required before you may use any of the extra credit options.
Please leave your email address in your comment if it is not visible in your profile.

Extra Credit! You may do any or all of the following, just don't forget to leave a separate comment for EACH one you do:

• Blog about the giveaway with a link to my blog (http://nateandjakeandme.blogspot.com) and The Mommy Card (http://themommycard.com) 2 entries, leave 2 comments
• Follow me on Blogger
  
• Add me to your Blog Roll 2 entries, leave 2 comments
  
• Subscribe to my blog via email
• Follow me on Twitter and tweet the following: RT Enter to win a $40 GC to The Mommy Card | Business Cards for Moms @kariellen http://tinyurl.com/nna3jf Leave the link to your tweet in your comment. You can do this once a day! Just come back and leave the link each time you do.

Don't have a blog? You can still earn extra credit entries by emailing 5 friends and invite them to enter the giveaway. Email must include the link to the giveaway and be cc'd to me (nateandjakesmom at gmail dot com).

Contest ends August 24th at 11:59 PST and a winner will be chosen at random and contacted via email. I will contact the winner on August 25th and they will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. US and Canada ONLY.

**Entries are Per Person, Per Email Address, Per Household, Per IP Address and/or Per Blog. Failure to follow these rules will lead to disqualification in this contest and all future contests on this blog. In other words, no cheating please.

Introducing the pediped Couture Collection with a pediped GIVEAWAY

ENDED - CONGRATULATIONS MOM2ANUTBALL
waiting for confirmation

Oh, how I wish my mom had the selection of children's shoes that I do. I would not have been pictured wearing the awful brown "special" shoes I would hope. No little girl should have to wear anything so ugly and pediped, a leader in fashionable shoes for kids, is introducing their Couture Collection which is, in a word, fabulous! The first four styles within “The Couture Collection” will be available in limited edition quantities for Fall/Winter 2009 before making way for the next quartet of styles expected to arrive Spring 2010. The Couture Collection retails for $42.

The safari themed collection features four irresistibly captivating styles designed exclusively for fashion-forward children. Unique & comfortable ankle straps along with leather uppers in striking leather exotic skins will enhance any ensemble for mini-fashionistas. "The Couture Collection" maintains all the comfort and health benefits pediped™ shoes are known for: soft cushioned leather soles, velcro fasteners and the Seal of Acceptance from the APMA for promoting healthy foot development.

As you may recall, I reviewed the Jake by pediped Flex a while back. They are holding up fabulously and Jake truly puts them to the test. I love that their shoes are officially recognized by the American Podiatric Medical Association as being beneficial for children’s growing feet. While they certainly are fashionable, you can purchase fashionable shoes at an discount shoe store. It is the quality of their shoes that makes them worthy of our hard earned money. Healthy foot development is so important and pediped designs their shoes with this as their key goal.


How beautiful are these Jules - Gold Couture Collection shoes? I only have boys, so my friends who were lucky enough to have little girls benefit since I am a girly-girl at heart. I will surely be purchasing little Kenzie a pair and have no shame in knowing that Auntie Kari will then become her favorite aunt. What little girl wouldn't love to wear a pair of pediped's from their Couture Collection?


WIN!! To celebrate the launch of the Couture Collection, pediped is offering one of my readers a pair from their originals collection!

TO ENTER: Go to pediped and tell me our favorite pediped shoe (not mentioned in this post).
This is required before you may use any of the extra credit options.
Please leave your email address in your comment if it is not visible in your profile.

Extra Credit! You may do any or all of the following, just don't forget to leave a separate comment for EACH one you do:

• Blog about the giveaway with a link to my blog (http://nateandjakeandme.blogspot.com) and pediped (http://www.pediped.com/) 2 entries, leave 2 comments
• Follow me on Blogger
  
• Add me to your Blog Roll 2 entries, leave 2 comments
  
• Subscribe to my blog via email
• Become a fan of pediped on Facebook
  
• Follow me and pediped on Twitter and tweet the following: RT Enter to win a pair of @pedipedfootwear on @kariellen A Giveaway Addicted Mommy http://tinyurl.com/ljpt2d Leave the link to your tweet in your comment. You can do this once a day! Just come back and leave the link each time you do.

Don't have a blog? You can still earn extra credit entries by emailing 5 friends and invite them to enter the giveaway. Email must include the link to the giveaway and be cc'd to me (nateandjakesmom at gmail dot com).

Contest ends August 29th at 11:59 PST and a winner will be chosen at random and contacted via email. I will contact the winner on August 30th and they will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. US ONLY.

**Entries are Per Person, Per Email Address, Per Household, Per IP Address and/or Per Blog. Failure to follow these rules will lead to disqualification in this contest and all future contests on this blog. In other words, no cheating please.

Earth Day Every Day

Going Green seems to be the hip thing to do these days. And while there is a special time to supposedly "go green," Earth Day really should be every day. It takes a little more effort at first, but implementing eco-friendly products and habits can just become part of your every day life.

My suggestion, start small. Pick a part of your life that it will be the easiest to implement an earth conscious behavior. For us, it was switching from bottled water, to filtering our own tap water.

REMEMBER GO GREEN WEEK @ AGAM is August 17-22

Don't get me wrong. I am so not a granola-eating, tree-hugging, hybrid-driving, eco-activist. I drive an SUV and sometimes I throw away recyclable items because I am too lazy to walk to the recycling bin. But! I am trying and I do as much as I can to be more "green." Basically, I have found that it comes down to convenience. Most parents don't have a lot of free time on their hands and sometimes "going green" takes a back burner. By convenience I don't necessarily mean less physical effort. It also takes a lot of work and time to research and find companies that produce items that are better for the environment and your family. So I try to do some of that leg work for you!

If you have already installed the solar panels and bike to work each day OR if you are just trying to do all you can to be a light shade of green - I am pretty sure you will find something during this week that you can use.
<center><<a href="http://nateandjakeandme.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="A Giveaway Addicted Mommy" src="http://web.mac.com/mraceto/kari/go_green.jpg" border="0" /></a></center>If you place this button on your blog by August 16, 2009 at 11:59 Pacific, please comment here with a link to your blog and you will get 5 extra entries in each contest!

Beauty Addicts Review

I am as guilty as the next mom of not bothering to put on make-up often enough. Some days I look at myself in the mirror and I realize that I look like death warmed over. So, I was thrilled to receive two products from Beauty Addicts. Not as much as my husband was however.

Beauty Addicts line of cosmetics comes in 4 different color families: Glow, Express, Motivate, and Seduce. If you are like me and can never figure out what eye shadow goes best with what blush or lipstick, then Beauty Addicts might just be the line of cosmetics your are looking for.

SolutionEYES are Beauty Addicts eye shadow quads that come in 4 different shades. I received the Express which has 4 shades of brown (the Express color family is described as buff, rose-gold, cream and bronze) which they claim are designed to mix flawlessly for goof-proof application. Well, I am that goof they speak of and I was able to look pretty darn good if I do say so myself. One of my complaints when it comes to eye shadows is that it ends up all clumped up in my eye creases. These did not. I do suggest using a slight hand, they are very concentrated, so a little goes a long way. You don't want to look like a clown.

RelationLIPS contains 4 lip glosses that are infused with shea butter, aloe vera, vitamin E and a hint of wild berry essence. They go only smoothly and are really beautiful. Of course I received the Express color family and I have tried wearing them indiviually and mixing a light sheer shade with a textured darker shade and all have looked wonderful. My only complaint is that they do not stay as long as I would hope, I do have to reapply several times throughout the day.

While these are not inexpensive, the SolutionEYES retails for $35 and the RelationLIPS retails for $28, you need to keep in mind that they contain 4 shadows and lip glosses respectively. The quality is superior and I loved the colors. I will certainly be adding the remainder of the line to my wish list.

CURES by Avance Review

I think one of the character flaws of bloggers is that we tend to share too much. This may be one of those posts. Apologies ahead of time.

CURES by Avance is "a collection of skincare and bodycare products that are curative and corrective. Their goal is to focus on skin conditions and not on skin types. CURES has created services and treatments that treat the root cause of the condition, offering long-term results." The two items I am reviewing are the slimming and anti-fluid gels. Do you see where I am going yet?

Yes, I am talking about cellulite and water-retention ladies. If you are one of the 4 people in the world that does not have either cellulite or water-retention issues, feel free to move on. If not, these products can help.

The Anti-Fluid Gel is for swelling, inflammation as well as fluid retention. It is a "therapeutic gel with a sensational cooling effect that prompts discomfort and swelling to subside. Aches and pains begin to dissipate as this extremely targeted therapy releases trapped fluid from the body and reduces uncomfortable inflammation." The first thing that you notice after application is the cooling sensation. I used this on my legs after surgery and I was very bloated. It worked quickly and I was able to use it every day for 2 weeks until the bloating subsided. It made me much more comfortable. I can imagine it would work wonders for menstrual bloating.

The Slimming Gel is for cellulite, water-retention and poor circulation. The description states: "Algae, nature's purifier, strategically cleanses the body of stored toxins. As cellulite is released from within, a smooth flow of contours begin to reappear as the silhouette is redefined." The application instructions say to apply a thin layer over thighs, buttocks, abdomen or upper arms and time for 3-5 minutes. Then, "skin will become flushed with a warm sensation." I have to tell you that this is a bit of an understatement. My skin turn bright red, itched a bit and burned. But, I must say that it did make my thighs look less cottage cheesey. You know what they say, no pain, no gain.

The Anti-Fluid Gel and the Slimming Gel both retail for $35.00 and can be purchased on the CURES website or search for a spa that carries their line using their spa locator.

ECRU New York/New York Streets Review

I refuse to get a "mommy hair-cut." My babies pull on it all the time and I curse (in my head of course) every time they do, but I just need to keep my long hair. What I have realized is that there is another reason moms cut their hair short after having kids, as you age your hair simply gets drier. Hair loses its shine and the older hair at the ends looks even worse. Pre-baby days I would just go and get a deep conditioning treatment. Now I need something that I can do at home to keep my locks from looking their age.

My hair is naturally wavy and that combined with the length (it goes a little beyond the middle of my back), leads to a lot of tangles. ECRU New York Cosmetic Hair Care has a new product, Silk Nourishing Spray that is a weightless, leave-in conditioning mist that instantly detangles hair while providing intense hydration. I have never used leave-in conditioning products because I worried that they would be too heavy. Not only is the Silk Nourishing Spray light, it helps smooth my split ends and frizziness, as well as protects my hair against heat damage. It has a light smell and I also appreciated the spray which distributed the product evenly. (ARV: $24.00)

Click here to find where you can purchase products or visit ECRU New York to purchase their products online.

ECRU New York has a Lifestyle Collection called New York Streets. New York Streets Hair Culture Collection's Conditioner is simply fabulous. It smells wonderful and leaves my hair feeling incredibly soft and not weighed down at all. With my hair being as long as it is, when I have found products that made my hair feel soft, they would inevitably make my hair flat and I ended up looking like Pocahontas, and not in a good way. (ARV: $15.50)

You can go to the New York Streets website to purchase their products online or click here for a store locator.

Jessica Cosmetics - To the Rescue!

I am a former nail-biter. However, now I have a nervous habit of picking at my cuticles. I have tried to stop but they would always get very dry and crack and I would end up picking at them again. That is until I started using Jessica Cosmetics Nourish and Jessana Whip.

Nourish is a therapeutic cuticle formula that with a pure blend of antioxidant vitamins and healing agents provides instant hydration and continuous moisture to nourish and soothe cuticles and nails. It feeds the matrix of the nail as it’s massaged in to stimulate circulation and growth. It comes in a small tube but don't let it's small size fool you. A little of this cream goes a long way. (ARV: $11.90)

A bartender once told me that he can tell a woman's age simply by looking at her hands. I think he was referring simply to women over 21 but ever since then I have been very conscious about my hands and the Jessana Whip Conditioning Cuticle Souffle from Jessica's Anti-Aging Hand Spa line keeps my fingers from looking any older than I already am. It consists of an intensive blend of deep moisturizing Aloe and Vitamin E that revitalizes problem cuticles and promotes longer, stronger nails. I even use this on my toes since I never wear shoes, only sandals, and my cuticles get very dry there too. Even your toes need a little TLC. (ARV: $18.18)

As parents, we wash our hands constantly and that dries out our skin. We always leave our needs for last and it is not necessary. Applying either of these two products takes seconds each day and the results are wonderful. My nails are stronger and are growing faster. My cuticles look wonderful and hydrated - I was amazed how quickly it worked and what a difference it made.

Click here to find a salon near you that carries the Jessica line of products or you can purchas them online at the Jessica Cosmetics website.

Winner of the Flojo's Giveaway

Congratulations to:

Leslie S.

I have sent you an email and you have 48 hours to respond

8/8 9:30am Pacific

Please note that in my conversion to the new blog design I lost my comment numbering. I count and then re-count to verify. Please feel free to count for yourself, or just trust me.

Chronicle Books Review

My middle son Jake, would rather "read" a book, than play with toys. Thank goodness he has finally stopped eating them. He would chew on them and then get so depressed when he'd realize he would not be able to read them anymore. In honor of this milestone, Chronicle Books sent us 4 items to review.

We chose the board books Trucks Go by Steve Light and Ready, Set, GO! by Nina Laden. We also chose the award-winning Alphabet Flash Cards By Beth Nelson, and a "big kid" book, Big, Bigger and Biggest Trucks and Diggers by Caterpillar. They were all wonderful and I will just give you a brief description of each. We will start with Jake's favorite: Ready, Set, GO!

Each page starts with "Ready, Set..." and then colorful pictures and simple rhyming texts help children guess what's peeking through the die-cut windows. I love that it teaches rhyming and helps him learn how to anticipate what is coming next. There is even a cute surprise ending. That is Jake's favorite part. Yes, Jake is reading upside down. I won't tell him if you won't.



Trucks Go is a must have for the truck lover in your home. I don't question why boys like big trucks but Jake manages to point out every single one he sees. This book brings these vehicles to life with silly sounds. For instance, did you know that the garbage truck goes, "BRRRRRRRR SCREETCH BEEP-BEEP-BEEP CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH" And that the fire engine goes, "WHEE-OOO WHEE-OOO WHEE-OOO?" You can learn what all 7 trucks in this book sound like in this colorfully illustrated book.

The Alphabet Flash Cards by Beth Nelson were inspired by a vintage French children's dictionary and are a beautiful introduction to the ABCs. Printed on thick, sturdy board, they are perfect for small hands to hold and are equally suited for hanging on the wall in a child's room. I fell in love right away and showed my mother-in-law who is a kindergarten teacher. She immediately pointed out that there were some problems with these cards. While they are beautiful, they aren't really great for teaching children the alphabet. For instance, the letter A card stands for Auto. Most children would say car if they saw the photo on the card. There are several cards like that and I decided to use them as decoration. This is fine with me because I was worried about Jake or Luke ruining them.

Big, Bigger and Biggest Trucks and Diggers by Caterpillar includes twelve of the most impressive machines, shown in order of size, with full-color photos and fascinating facts for each one. The book comes with an action-packed 30-minute DVD so children can watch their favorite machines at work, digging, hauling, and dumping, all to some fun tunes. While this is geared for older children, many of these machines have been driving around our little town and Jake loves to watch them slowly roll along. Now I am just waiting for the day when he yells out, "Mommy look, that is a Hydraulic Excavator!"

Check out the entire children's collection that Chronicle Books offers at Chronicle Kids.

Wordless Wednesday - I Didn't Do It

Hubby ran across this picture that was taken 6 months ago but could be taken today and you'd get the same kind of photo. Jake loves to take things away from Luke. Luke is almost as big as Jake now - in a few months they will probably be wearing the same size clothing. Jake better watch out - he might be the one crying next time.

For more Wordless Wednesdays: 5MinutesForMom

Back To School Letter to Parents

As parents gear up for the upcoming school year, I thought it was a good time to offer parents a bit of my unsolicited advice.

Dear Parents,

I became a teacher because I wanted to teach. I felt I would be able to make a positive difference in children's lives. As in every profession, there are bound to be bad people. I am not going to defend those teachers. I am, however, going to ask that you don't assume we are all the same.

If I take the time to call you or contact you, it is because I am looking for your support and help with YOUR child. Your first instinct may be to defend your child, that is human nature. However, I am surprised that a parent would think I would lie. I truly have no reason or time to do this. If you think it can't possibly be true, set up a meeting with me and have your child present so we can sort things out. But please, don't let your child know that you think I am a liar. I will never get your child's respect back and the rest of the year is doomed.

If you have a question or issue with a me, talk to me about it first. If you expect your children to respect their teacher, you must also as well. Give me the opportunity to explain. Your children may be misunderstanding things. They are, after all, children. If after this, you are not satisfied, then talk to the principal.

But most importantly, email/talk to me on a regular basis. Find out what is going on, what is planned and what you can do on your end to support the learning going on at school. I only see your child (at the secondary level) for an hour a day along with the rest of the students in the class (for me I had class sizes in the 50's).

I once called a parent and asked him to talk to his daughter because she had been misbehaving in class. He replied, "You see her more than I do. You talk to her." I did end up working with her and "parenting" her if you will. I did this with a lot of students. Your kids just want to be talked to - even if they won't talk back - keep trying. If you don't they'll think you don't care. And we all know you do.

Sincerely,

A Good Teacher
(Who will not return to teaching due to parents who prompted me to write this letter. Teaching is hard enough without parents working against me instead of with me. I miss my students, the relationships I formed with them and other teachers, especially the feeling that I was making a difference. But I am happy to be home, making a difference in MY children's lives.)

Patch Products Toys Review and Giveaway

Can educational toys be fun? They sure can and Patch Products has a great selection. We have plenty of toys that litter the halls, the living room and bedrooms. I didn't want to add to this with just any ordinary toys so I have been really looking for toys that serve a dual purpose, to entertain and educate.

Can-Do Roo is an award winning toy that helps teach numbers, letters, colors, and shapes. Can-Do Roo™ has a pouch full of things to do! This game comes with 96 chips/Fun Cards that you place into Roo's pouch. Each player takes turns pulling out the Fun Cards. A Fun Card may tell them to hop to a particular shape or color. Or they might have to act and sound like a dog, frog, cow or other common animal. Fun Cards in Roo's pouch also include letters of the alphabet to help children recognize each letter and learn what words start with that letter. If they pick a number card, they will have fun hopping that number of times while counting.

Can-Do Roo is suggested for ages 4 and up but I simply took out the letter Fun Cards and adjusted others so that he can perform the action. Jake loves to see us act and sound like different animals. It is a lot of fun and a little embarrassing but what we will do for our kids, right? Can-Do Roo retails for $20.00.

We also received the Tracing Puzzle that helps preschoolers learn the alphabet, numbers and shapes. All you do is pop out a letter, number or shape to trace it on a piece of paper. I look forward to being able to help Jake learn to spell simple words using the letters. He is a little young for the tracing but we are using them to introduce the letters and numbers. I will trace the different pieces and then he colors them in. The Tracing Puzzle is for ages 3 and up and the suggested retail price is $12.00.

BUY IT!: Patch Products is offering my readers a 25% discount off of a purchase of Can-Do Roo. (It is never too early to be thinking about Christmas) Simply enter ADMOM25 (all caps, no spaces) at checkout (unlimited use!). Expires September 6, 2009

WIN IT!: One of my readers will receive Can-Do Roo from Patch Products.

TO ENTER: Go to Patch Products and tell me another toy, not listed here, that you'd like to buy that special kid in your life.
This is required before you may use any of the extra credit options.
Please leave your email address in your comment if it is not visible in your profile.

Extra Credit! You may do any or all of the following, just don't forget to leave a separate comment for EACH one you do:

• Blog about the giveaway with a link to my blog (http://nateandjakeandme.blogspot.com) and Patch Products (http://www.patchproducts.com/) 2 entries, leave 2 comments
• Follow me on Blogger
• Subscribe to my blog via email
• Follow me and on Twitter and tweet about the contest. Leave the link to your tweet in your comment. You can do this once a day! Just come back and leave the link each time you do.

Don't have a blog? You can still earn extra credit entries by emailing 5 friends and invite them to enter the giveaway. Email must include the link to the giveaway and be cc'd to me (nateandjakesmom at gmail dot com).

Contest ends August 20th at 11:59 PST and a winner will be chosen at random and contacted via email. I will contact the winner on August 21st and they will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. US ONLY.

**Entries are Per Person, Per Email Address, Per Household, Per IP Address and/or Per Blog. Failure to follow these rules will lead to disqualification in this contest and all future contests on this blog. In other words, no cheating please.

Winners of the Le Baby Hair Gel Giveaway

Congratulations to:

TinsleyTime, trixpixel, & TwentySomethingMomma

I have sent you all emails and you will have 48 hours to respond
10:00pm Pacific 8/6

Take Me Back Tuesday - Junior High

<center><a href="http://nateandjakeandme.blogspot.com"> <img src="http://web.me.com/mraceto/kari/tuesday/button.jpg" /> </a></center>
How do you play along?
We all have tons of photos from the days before the digital camera. I figure if I just scan a few each week, eventually I will get them all safely into my computer.
Every week you can come back here and share photos that "take you back." Maybe it is the bad hair we all had in the 80's or the bell-bottoms you swore were so hip in the 70's. Whatever you want to share!
If you decide to participate, sign the Linky below and I promise to head on over and spread some comment love your way!

Photo courtesy of Julie Crary-Sanders via Facebook

I taught Jr. High and I cannot imagine having to teach that bunch of hooligans photographed here. In a word we were trouble. I am on the floor sitting ever so lady-like in the white top. I had a horrible self-image problem in junior high (who didn't?) and always thought I was fat and ugly. If only I could turn back time and tell myself that I was fine just the way I was. That all girls feel that way and just deal with it in different ways. If only we aged backwards... If only I could fit in those shorts again. :)

Pillsbury® simply...™ Cookies - Giveaway & Review

Can you smell them? There is nothing like the smell of homemade cookies, is there? Pillsbury has a new line of ready to cook cookies called simply...™ and they are simply delicious. I would expect nothing less from Pillsbury and these did not disappoint.

Pillsbury® simply...™ Cookies come in two favorite flavors, Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter. What makes these cookies any different than the other cookies in the refrigerator case? They are made with wholesome ingredients like flour, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla and have zero grams trans fat, no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial colors or flavors and no preservatives. Basically they are the kind you would make if you had the time!

I always wanted to be the mom who had the warm cookies ready as soon as everyone came home from work or school. I realized that if I didn't have to take care of the babies, do laundry, clean the house, etc... I could totally do that. But then that would also mean more dishes to clean and more mess to clean up. Pillsbury® simply...™ Cookies give me the ability to get cookies made with little fuss and time. If you use parchment to bake them on, you won't even have a cookie sheet to clean when you are done! How is that for "simple?"

Would you love to try these for yourself? You can enter below for a free coupon & prize package, but if you "simply" can't wait, you can print a coupon for $1.25 off a purchase of Pillsbury simple... cookies by clicking here.

Thank you to My Blog Spark for this fabulous review opportunity!


WIN IT!: One of my readers will win a coupon for a free sample of Pillsbury® simply...™ refrigerated cookies as well as a prize pack that includes a cookie jar and a really great canvas grocery tote (pictured above).

TO ENTER: Leave a comment telling me how you keep your cooking simple.
This is required before you may use any of the extra credit options.
Please leave your email address in your comment if it is not visible in your profile.

Extra Credit! You may do any or all of the following, just don't forget to leave a separate comment for EACH one you do:

• Blog about the giveaway with a link to my blog (http://nateandjakeandme.blogspot.com) 2 entries, leave 2 comments
• Follow me on Blogger
• Subscribe to my blog via email
• Follow me and on Twitter and tweet about the contest. Leave the link to your tweet in your comment. You can do this once a day! Just come back and leave the link each time you do.

Don't have a blog? You can still earn extra credit entries by emailing 5 friends and invite them to enter the giveaway. Email must include the link to the giveaway and be cc'd to me (nateandjakesmom at gmail dot com).

Contest ends August 19th at 11:59 PST and a winner will be chosen at random and contacted via email. I will contact the winner on August 20th and they will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. US ONLY.

**Entries are Per Person, Per Email Address, Per Household, Per IP Address and/or Per Blog. Failure to follow these rules will lead to disqualification in this contest and all future contests on this blog. In other words, no cheating please.

Nowali Moccasins Review and Giveaway

ENDED - Congratulations Shopannies

I live in the mountains where it really never gets very hot but it surely gets very cold. Everyone wears slippers in this house year-round and I have found the most adorable moccasins for the boys! Nowali Moccasins have unveiled their Fall/Winter 2009 collection and they are as attractive as they are practical.

We had the opportunity to choose one style from this new collection and we chose the monkeys in navy. They are as soft as socks with a no-slip leather sole. They went on easily and I worried that the moccasin would slip and slide off as Jake ran around in them. However, they stayed on even through a good Jake-style dance session. If you look closely, I think the secret lies in the heel, the leather sole goes up a bit higher in the back. I was also worried that he would slip while running on the tile in the kitchen but the non-skid soles really lived up to their name.

Normally I would not allow my son to wear these outside but Nowali claimed that if they were worn outside that they were machine washable so I put them to the test. They came out of the wash looking exactly the same and after air-drying were as good as new. I did not notice any pilling or change in shape. Nowali moccasins are hand-stiched, made in Sweden and made from materials that comply with a standard that ensures that they do not contain harmful dyes or substances.

The monkey design is adorable and while I originally thought the moccasins looked a little silly - I have since changed my tune. They look so comfortable and the proof for me was that Jake didn't try to take them off. So, I know you are wondering, do they make these for adults? Yes! (No monkeys sadly) Sizing for children vary by style but start at 6 months and can go up to 10 years!

WIN IT!: One of my readers will win their choice of Nowali Moccasin from the Fall/Winter 2009 line.

TO ENTER: Visit Nowali and choose your favorite style(s) and return here and leave your choice in your comment.
This is required before you may use any of the extra credit options.
Please leave your email address in your comment if it is not visible in your profile.

Extra Credit! You may do any or all of the following, just don't forget to leave a separate comment for EACH one you do:

• Blog about the giveaway with a link to my blog (http://nateandjakeandme.blogspot.com) and to Nowali (http://www.nowali.com) 2 entries, leave 2 comments
• Follow me on Blogger
• Subscribe to my blog via email
• Follow me and on Twitter and tweet about the contest. Leave the link to your tweet in your comment. You can do this once a day! Just come back and leave the link each time you do.

Don't have a blog? You can still earn extra credit entries by emailing 5 friends and invite them to enter the giveaway. Email must include the link to the giveaway and be cc'd to me (nateandjakesmom at gmail dot com).

Contest ends August 18th at 11:59 PST and a winner will be chosen at random and contacted via email. I will contact the winner on August 19th and they will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. US ONLY.

**Entries are Per Person, Per Email Address, Per Household, Per IP Address and/or Per Blog. Failure to follow these rules will lead to disqualification in this contest and all future contests on this blog. In other words, no cheating please.