Who Wants to Win a Prize?

I think I have pretty awesome readers. A good number of you take the time to comment on my silly ramblings or picture heavy posts and I received so much help last week regarding the sleep issues in this house! When I was approached last week about either offering a giveaway to my readers or keeping the prize for myself and just writing a review, the choice was an easy one.... of course I want to reward my readers!

The prize up for grabs? $40 to be spent at any of the 250+ CSN stores (you'll have to pay shipping costs)! Remodeling your bathroom? You could put the $40 towards a new vanity. Have a child's birthday coming up? You could use the $40 to buy a sweet new toy! Kids keep breaking your dishes? Buy new dishes! Seriously, the options are endless! Check out all of the specialty stores CSN has by clicking here.

Here's how you can win!

1. Leave a comment saying what you need (or just really want) to buy right now.
2. Become a follower of this blog and leave a separate comment (or let me know if you already follow).
3. Check out the blog, and leave a comment, of another commenter - then leave another comment here.
4. Share this giveaway on Facebook and leave another comment letting me know you did.

That's it! Four easy ways you can enter to win. Winner will be drawn on Thursday morning, so you have until then to leave your comments!

Consignment Shopping - A Giveaway!

In light of my forgetfulness yesterday, entries will now be accepted until 9pm Sunday and the winner will be announced Monday morning! 

It's no big secret that I love finding a great deal, and shopping for clothes and toys for the boys is no exception. Sure, I've scored some awesome deals at clearance events at places like Children's Place, Gymboree and Target, but there's another place I've found great deals on clothes AND toys! Consignment Sales!

Consignment sales are springing up all over the place now, so sometimes it's hard to know which one to shop and sell at. I'm here to recommend one that I absolutely love and I'm going to give one of you the chance to learn to love it too, by giving away $25 to spend at their sales next month!

TimesTwoKC is the best. Hands down. I've heard horror stories about every other sale in the Kansas City area. Everything from not getting paid, to having to dig through racks and racks of stuff at the end of the sale just to find your unsold items. Those things don't happen at TimesTwoKC.

Why TimesTwoKC?

• High quality items are all you'll find at their sales!
• Two convenient locations this year - Overland Park, KS and Independence, MO
• Easy drop off and pick up of your items - everything that didn't sell is ready and waiting for you to just swing by and pick up, or you can have it donated and you'll receive a receipt for your taxes!
• Cheap to consign! If you sign up before July 1st your consignor fee is only $5 (and includes two sales!).
• You can sell your stuff in two sales, back to back!
• Start your Back to School shopping there and then round it out at the stores if you need to.
• You can volunteer and earn 75% on your stuff!
• It's run by some of the nicest people you'll meet.

Bottom Line? Sign up to sell your stuff. It's just collecting dust in your basement and instead it could be making you some money, which you can then turn around to buy the stuff your kids need now. It's a beautiful system. The sales are less than a month away now, so it's time to get tagging those items! July 20-22 the sale will be in Overland Park and July 27-29 the sale will be in Independence. Double the places to buy and sell and both in convenient locations!

As mentioned above, if you sign up to consign in the next couple of days (you have to do it by the end of Wednesday) then your fee is only $5 (normally $10). Gotta love the chance to save more money!

Want to win $25 to the upcoming sales? $25 will go a long way at a consignment sale, and here's how you can win!

Do one, or all of the following, 

leaving a separate comment for each item completed!

1. Leave a comment here mentioning whether or not you've ever consigned stuff or shopped a consignment sale.
2. Become a fan of TimesTwoKC on Facebook, or mention if you already are.
3. Become a follower of this blog, or mention if you already are.

Comments accepted until 10:00pm on Thursday, July 1st. Winner will be drawn randomly, either by my children or by random.org and announced on the blog Friday morning. Winner will have until Monday evening to claim their prize before an alternate winner is selected.

Taking Care of Yourself - A Giveaway

I am a big proponent of moms getting a little "me time" at least once a week. Whether that solitary time is at the grocery store, the library, a coffee shop or hanging out with friends, Me Time is a must. Sadly, Me Time in your own home can be hard to come by at times.

Last week I got a big box from the folks at MyBlogSpark and Yoplait. Inside the box were some items to help me get some Me Time here at home! Inside was a nifty little spa/pampering set and a couple of coupons to try the new Yoplait Greek Yogurt for free.

I've been curious about Greek Yogurt for a while now, but have never gotten around to trying it. I'll be honest, the price is a little high for my liking. I'm used to paying 10 to 15 cents a cup for yogurt so seeing cups selling for $1 or more each was a bit shocking. You know what though? After trying the Yoplait Greek Yogurt I'll definitely be splurging on this stuff once in a while!

I shared the first cup, honey vanilla flavor, with my sister (she'd never had it before either) and we both agreed that while the texture is a bit different (thicker and yet slightly grainy or dry feeling on your tongue) it's quite good. And for 12 grams of protein per cup we'll put up with the odd texture! A couple of days later I tried the strawberry flavor mixed with some low-fat granola for breakfast. Talk about a breakfast power house - 18 grams or protein and 7 grams of fiber in that bowl of yogurt and granola! My sister also mentioned she'd heard that Greek Yogurt is awesome on your face, as a mask.

Would you like to receive your own gift box from MyBlogSpark and Yoplait? Here's how:

Do one or all of the following to enter, leaving a separate entry for each

1. How do you currently take care of yourself?
2. Become a follower of this blog or tell me if you already are.
3. Visit the blog of another commenter, leave them a comment and then leave another here!

Contest ends Monday, the 19th at 6pm and the winner will be announced Tuesday morning. Winner will have 48 hours to contact me and claim their prize or an alternate will be picked. Coupon for free Yoplait is not valid in some states, including: CA, ID, LA, MN, NV, NJ, ND and TN. You're still welcome to win the spa gift pack though!


If you're curious about Greek Yogurt and want to give it a shot now, you can follow this link for a .30 off coupon!
 

Giveaway 2 of 2

Comments are now closed - check back Monday morning for the winner's name!

I have two fun giveaways for you this week! Both of these will run from today through Saturday at 10pm and the winners will be announced on Monday morning. Winners will have 48 hours to contact me and claim their prize before an alternate winner is selected.

These giveaways are in honor of the 1 Year Blogiversary Celebration going on over at Multiples and More! They're one of my favorite blogs to visit and if you've got multiples you definitely need to check them out. Anyone is allowed to enter these giveaways, even my Canadian friends!

Giveaway #2

Item of Choice from my Etsy Shop

Time to drool folks! The Etsy shop that I started back in mid-December is going great! I've been featured a couple of times on Etsy.com which most recently (yesterday!) resulted in a few sales. To celebrate how well the shop is going, I want to offer my readers a shot at winning some treats for themselves. 

Maybe you'd like these...

Or, my personal favorite, the peanut butter version!

Or how about these?

Or these?

There are lots of choices in my Giggling Sweets shop, so go check 'em out! Giggling Sweets Ready to win something? Here's how...

Do one or all of the following. Please leave separate comments for each entry.

1. Tell us what your favorite food to indulge in is.

2. Become (or tell me if you already are) a follower of this blog.

3. Facebook about this giveaway.

4. Tweet about this giveaway.

Giveaway 1 of 2

Comments are now closed. Check back Monday morning for the winner and my thoughts on the PTing questions asked!

 

I have two fun giveaways for you this week! Both of these will run from today through Saturday at 10pm and the winners will be announced on Monday morning. Winners will have 48 hours to contact me and claim their prize before an alternate winner is selected.

These giveaways are in honor of the 1 Year Blogiversary Celebration going on over at Multiples and More! They're one of my favorite blogs to visit and if you've got multiples you definitely need to check them out. Anyone is allowed to enter these giveaways, even my Canadian friends!

Giveaway #1

Jumbo Pack of boys Huggies Pull-Ups - size 2T-3T

About a month ago I had the privilege of being in on a Huggies Potty Training conference call. The call was "attended" by 5 other bloggers, a PTing expert and the creator of the Huggies Potty Dance song. In exchange for my participation in the call I was sent a pack of Pull Ups to give away on my own blog and a $100 pre-paid Visa card for myself. Sweetness! 

At the time of the call Tyler was still giving us trouble in the poop department. I asked the expert for any advice she could share and she did mention one thing that helped push Tyler along: we were told to reinstate treats/rewards for the other two once in a while so that Tyler was reminded of how cool it was to get rewarded. Well whaddya know - it worked. 

I also asked her about night time training and she mentioned that most children take 6-9 months to train from start to finish (night time trained), so we probably were getting close to the point where the boys would start waking up dry. Good news indeed! 

So are you currently potty training a child, or two or three? Are you beginning to think about? Still in denial that is has to happen? Maybe receiving a package of Pull Ups in the mail will be just what you need! Here's how to enter:

Do one or all of the following. Please leave separate comments for each entry.

1. Leave one PTing tip or question you have.

2. Become (or tell me if you already are) a follower of this blog.

3. Facebook about this giveaway.

4. Tweet about this giveaway.

Picnic Cooler Winner!

I just had Chase draw our winning name!

Congrats Momma-of-5! E-mail me with your mailing address and we'll get it shipped right out to you so that you can start in on those fun family picnics!

No Saturday Savings post today - I've been having so much fun with my friends this weekend that I haven't even had the chance to look at the fliers, let alone shop!
 

Spring Happiness - A Giveaway

Sometimes I don't like to face this reality, but my kids are growing up. They look nothing like babies anymore and seem to quickly be losing their toddler look. Did you know we've even started looking at kids beds? Originally Nick and I were going to skip the toddler bed route and go right to twins, but then we discovered that would be a tight squeeze. As we were lamenting our choices, I found this awesome triplet bunk bed! How awesome is that thing!? Seeing that sealed the deal - we're going to get toddler beds and wait a couple of more years before buying one of those sweet bunk beds!

As hard as it is to watch my "babies" grow up, it's so fun to think about the big boy things they are slowly starting to do now (like not being so dependent on the Choo Choo) and will do very soon (like moving out of their cribs). Growing up also means more chances to do fun family things outside of our house! You know, real memory making type stuff... like picnics!

Picnics at the picnic table are all well and good for the boys, but Nick and I can't join them there! Back a couple of Christmases ago, my grandparents gave us a great picnic blanket. I've used it several times here in the house. The boys like it when I change things up and we have a "picnic" in the living room. Here they are this past Friday night doing just that (really it was Nick's idea because he wanted to watch the basketball game that was on).

You know what I'm really looking forward to this spring (which, by the way, officially starts on Saturday)? Family picnics at the park! We've got the blanket and we've got kids who will mostly sit still now, all we need is a picnic basket! Something like this one...

Not only does that bag roll, but it has a top compartment that you can put warm stuff in and the bottom part for cold is big enough to hold 36 cans! Sounds perfect for a family picnic, don't you think? You know what I think would be a really fun tradition to start? Family Picnic Fridays. Each Friday in the spring and summer committing to having a family picnic for either lunch or dinner. Doesn't that sound awesome?

If Family Picnic Fridays sound good to you, perhaps the thought of winning one of those sweet coolers/picnic baskets would sound good too! Here's how to enter to win one:

Do one or all of the following and leave a comment for EACH item you complete!

1. Leave a comment telling us what you're most looking forward to doing this spring!

2. Become a follower of this blog (or tell me if you already are)

3. Facebook about the giveaway

4. Tweet about the giveaway

Contest is open to US Residents only. Winner's name will be announced on Saturday morning (the first day of spring!). Winner will have until Tuesday night the 23rd to claim their prize or an alternate winner will be selected.

St. Eve Kids Giveaway!

What a fun month this has been for giveaways! Hopefully I can get some more giveaways lined up so we can do this again soon. Now, it's time to kick off our final giveaway this month!

When the folks at St. Eve Kids contacted me about doing a review and giveaway of one of their newest kid's lounge items I said sure! The only problem was the item they were offering was pink. Hmmm... maybe that wouldn't work so well. St. Eve Kids compromised with me and sent us a preview item that releases to stores late this spring. That item was much more boy friendly...

 

The Travel Bud is a pillow that zips open and you can store the super soft blanket inside of it! I've been told those will be hitting stores in late spring. If we end up traveling this summer, I definitely will be buying two more of these. The boys LOVE this one!

Jackson and then Tyler "modeling" it for me.

  

So what's the pink item we're giving away? The St. Eve Kids Cozy! Think Snuggy, but less annoying name and made for kids. Oh, and can I just say the Cozy is so soft that I almost want to unroll it and see if it fits me! It says "One size fits all" but I'm pretty sure they mean all kids, not all moms who still look pregnant even though they're not.

 

St. Eve Kids stuff can be found at Bon Ton, Von Maur, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Nordstrom, Belk, Kohls, Sears and JC Penney. The Cozy can also be purchased on QVC.com, and bonus - it's on sale there! The Cozy is recommended for ages 4 and up and does come in boy colors and prints too (look at the QVC link).

Know what's really fun about St. Eve Kids? They have their own website: DramaU.com where your kids can watch little animated clips featuring the characters found on St. Eve Kids clothes! Even better than animated clips? The chance to win a year supply of pajamas! You can enter that contest at DramaU.com also.

While you wait to see if you've been chosen in the DramaU PJs for a Year contest, you can try to win a pink Cozy for the little girl in your life! Here's how to win...

1. Tell me who you want to win the Cozy for.

2. Become a follower or subscriber (or tell me if you already are)

3. Tweet and/or Facebook about this

4. Make a donation of any size to my March for Babies walk. If you've already donated, just let me know.

Don't forget to leave separate comments for each item you complete!

Contest will end at 10pm Thursday and winner will be announced Friday morning. Contest only open to US Residents. Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize before an alternate winner is drawn.

An Etsy Shop Giveaway!

A few months ago I treated myself to a new purse. My old purse was still in fine shape but it was way to small, especially for a mom of three toddlers! I needed something I could throw a change of pants into (thanks to my newly potty trained kids). I needed something I could throw my new camera into. I needed something that had room for all the junk Nick wants me to carry whenever we're out (his phone, gum and wallet). Obviously this purse would need to be on the large side!

I saw some cute ones at Kohls and Target but then realized I wanted something original. Something that 1 out of every 100 women at church wouldn't have too. I turned to Etsy. I love Etsy! Not only has Etsy allowed me to earn a little money doing something I love, but it's also a super fun place to window shop. I have my eye on some fun jewelry, a sweet camera bag and a nifty camera strap just to name a few items!

After days of browsing on Etsy, I finally found a bag I loved. It would go with all of my various coats and it was big enough to hold all my stuff!

It's well made, and I get lots of compliments on it! The shop where I got it? Little Happys! After having such a great experience buying my purse, I asked Stephanie at Little Happys if she'd like to do a giveaway here at Three Times the Giggles, and she graciously accepted! Yay for all of you!

Stephanie does great work, just look at this diaper bag up in her shop...

 

If I was going to be having a baby soon (which I'm not), I totally would get this diaper bag! She also has some other fun purses, cute fleece hats and some very cool looking cosmetic bags.

  

  

You can even have your item personalized! 

So what's in it for you, my lovely readers? How about a personalized cosmetic bag of your very own! Here's how to enter:

Step #1: Visit the Little Happys shop on Etsy and check stuff out.

Step #2: Come back here and leave a comment telling us what your favorite item or fabric was in the shop.

 

Bonus Entries: leave separate comments for each of the following: following this blog, Tweeting about this giveaway, Sharing the giveaway on Facebook

Contest will run until 9am Sunday the 21st and the winner will be announced Monday morning! Only open to US Residents.

Comments are now closed on this post! 2.20.10

Not Really A Saturday Savings Post

I know my Saturday morning post is generally all about grocery shopping, but I also know I usually post on Friday mornings too and that just didn't happen yesterday! So today, I bring you a potpourri of stuff...

Baking Fool: I'm a baking fool this week! In fact, as I write this post I have the first part of two batches of Whoopie Pies in the oven. Business has been good for Valentine's Day, for which I am so thankful!

Chase's Hernia: Yesterday afternoon I took Chase to the Children's Hospital for a consult appointment about his hernia. We have a surgery date set for about a month from now. The biggest challenge will be keeping him totally healthy in the days leading up to surgery!

A Borrowed Lens: A triplet mom friend is letting me borrow a lens for my Nikon! I've had fun messing with it the last 24 hours or so and will post some pictures next week here and this weekend on my 365 Blog (probably later today)!

Grocery Shopping: I did half of my grocery shopping yesterday and will do the second half on Monday, which is why I decided to not bother with a full Saturday Savings post today. Price Chopper is having a nice President's Day Sale on Monday, so I'll be heading there to get some good deals on cereal, potatoes, laundry detergent and frozen veggies (among other items on sale). Yesterday I picked up Dole Salad Blends for .99 each, chicken nuggets for $1 and frozen blueberries for $1.88. I also picked up some more Organic Milk at Whole Foods. Holy moly, I wonder when the sticker shock of that will wear off.

Oh and I must share this fun grocery trip I took last weekend! HyVee was having another one of their 2 day sales, so I made a special trip to the HyVee closer to home in order to take advantage and to look for the Organic Pears that were on sale but not carried at the HyVee I had visited on Friday. Get this: I walked out of HyVee with 20 containers of Danon yogurt and a 3 pound bag of Organic Pears and paid only $2! How? The pears rang up incorrectly so I got them for free and with my two coupons and the great sale on yogurts my total was $2! Sweet! You know what? Those pears rang up incorrectly again yesterday (they're on sale all month) so I again got a bag of free organic pears! Woot! Woot!

Don't Forget: You only have two more days to enter the giveaway of the week! I'm giving away a whole set of organic insect killer! It's safe to use around your pets and kids and it does the trick! There aren't many entries yet, so your odds are good right now... enter HERE! Monday morning we'll announce the winner and a new giveaway!

3 Giveaways in 3 Weeks

I have some fun stuff planned for you all for the rest of February! Each week (starting today) I'll have a new giveaway here at Three Times the Giggles. Next week the giveaway will be from an Etsy shop, and who doesn't love Etsy?! The week after (the week of the 22nd) will be a little something for the elementary aged girls in your life. This week (post can be seen below) is a giveaway for your home - Organic Insect Killer!

Also, a huge thank you to all of you for participating in Cans for Comments! I was a little worried at our numbers going into Friday, but then you all went crazy Friday and Saturday and more than doubled my numbers all the way up to 65 for the week. I had 3 friends pledge to match my donation, which means your 65 comments over the course of the week have resulted in 260 non-perishable items being donated to various food pantries! Well done!

I'll post an update tomorrow morning about my MRI and Neurologist appointment (happening today). Thanks for letting me know you're thinking and praying for me. It means a lot :)

Crickets vs. Organic Insect Killer - Giveaway!

I hate crickets. They gross me out. You never know which direction they're going to jump! Little black crickets don't creep me out nearly as much as the big brown crickets we have in our basement. And why is it these crickets must take up residence in the area around our washer and dryer? It's like they know that's the only place I go in the basement! I get shivers just thinking about those hoppy things!

In light of the icky bugs living in my basement, when the folks at EcoSMART contacted me about reviewing their organic insect killer and then giving some away on my blog I was all over it! Something that will kill the crickets? Sign me up! Plus, you all know I've been trying to incorporate more organic and all natural products into our life, so hearing about all natural pesticides was appealing to me.

I'll confess to you all, when I heard I'd get to review these products here I had grand plans of taking a picture of the disgusting crickets (before I killed them of course). Then I thought better of that. I mean, what if the cricket hopped at me while I was taking it's picture?! Ick! So instead I just stalked the little buggers with my giant can of Ant & Roach killer. Job done!

EcoSMART also sent me some Home Pest control (can't wait to try that out on the ants that try to invade our kitchen each spring), Flying Insect Killer (looking forward to trying that one around our deck this summer - we had a serious fly problem last year) and Insect Repellent which should be great to keep the mosquitoes at bay this summer. Guess what? You can win your very own set!

How to Enter:

1. Tell me why you need/want this product. What pests (besides your kids of course) are bugging you lately or will be bugging you come spring?

2. Become a follower of this blog or tell me if you already are.

It's that easy! Winner will be drawn and announced next Monday, the 15th. You have until 10pm on Sunday the 14th to enter. Contest is only open to US Residents. Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize or an alternate winner will be chosen.

Winner & Decorating the Tree

The last few times I've done a giveaway on here I have video taped the boys drawing the winner's name out of a bowl. It's been cute and well loved that's for sure. Unfortunately I still can't get my videos from the camera and onto the computer. Hopefully I can fix that soon because I have a hilarious video of Jackson to share!

At any rate, I had to resort today to the random number generator at Random.org in order to pick my big winner for my Giggling Sweets giveaway!


Drum roll please!

The winner is commenter #14 - Kris!

Congrats Kris! Get in touch with me about what item from my shop you would like!

If you didn't win here, you still have one more chance over at this blog - http://thebrisenos.blogspot.com/2009/12/holiday-spirit-week-christmas-cookie.html You have until tonight to enter there!

Remember all items in my shop are on sale through this Friday. I even added a few new items last night! Peanut butter Whoopie Pies anyone? http://www.gigglingsweets.etsy.com

_______________________

This weekend we finally picked up our Christmas tree. Usually we get one right after Thanksgiving, so waiting this long was weird for me. Last year we set up our tree while the boys slept and then video taped them coming out to see it for the first time... Remember this?

I love that video! This year the boys are loving Christmas! The lights, the trees (at church and at Union Station) and seeing Santa (even though they were too scared to sit on his lap). Nick and I rushed to try to decorate the tree while the boys napped on Friday, but only got as far as getting it up and turning the lights on. We decided to try to let the boys help us decorate!

 

 

 

Chase and Ty were great at putting ornaments on the tree. Jackson was great at pulling them off. Excuse Chase's weird attire (he's in white). That's what happens when you let a 2 year old dress himself - you get a towel like swim cover-up with a hood, layered under a white button down shirt. Stylish!

Saturday Savings - Big Produce Week

There are some great produce deals to be had this week! Check out that table bursting with food... all of that cost me $66.23 but I only paid $46.23 (thanks to a Hen House gift card). What a bargain!

Price Chopper:

Nestle Hot Cocoa Mix - 3 boxes

Best Choice Shredded Cheeses - 6 bags

Red Peppers - 2

Potatoes - 10 pound bag

Hen House:

C&H Brown Sugar - 2 bags

Oroweat Bread - 2 loaves

Snyders Pretzels

Baby Carrots - 5 pound bag

Oranges - 8 pound bag

Green Leaf Lettuce

Town House Crackers

Aldi:

Skim Milk - 1 gallon

2% Milk - 3 gallons 

Butter - 2 boxes

Bananas - 3.8 pounds

Eggs - 2 dozen

Chocolate Chips - 2 bags

Baking Cocoa

HyVee:

Butter - 1 box

Danimals Crush Cups Yogurt

Sugar - 4 pound bag

Tones Vanilla Extract

Tones Coconut Extract

HyVee Plastic Wrap

Reynolds Parchment Paper

Granny Smith Apples - 2.54 pounds

Bartlett Pears - 3.26 pounds

White Bread - 2 loaves

The Deals: I love how much produce I was able to snag this week! Hen House has 8 pound bags of Oranges for $2.99 (67% off) and 5 pound bags of baby carrots for $4.69 (33% off). Price Chopper has 10 pound bags of potatoes for $1.49 (63% off). HyVee has Granny Smith apples for .69 a pound and pears for .88 a pound!

Other notable deals included bags of shredded cheese for .99 each at Price Chopper, Danimals yogurt for $1 at HyVee, Sugar for .99 at HyVee and butter for .99 at HyVee. Speaking of baking supplies, Price Chopper also has 5 pound bags of flour on sale for .99 this week - no limit! You better believe I stocked up for my Etsy Business (paid seperately which is why you don't see it on the table). I also snagged the three boxes of cocoa for free thanks to the Price Chopper Kids Club item of the month.

Hen House has a great deal on Oroweat breads right now! If you attended their Holiday Celebration then you already have a .25 off one coupon loaded onto your Hen House card, bringing the price of one loaf down to $1.23. To make the deal even sweeter, there are peelie coupons on many of the loaves for .35 off and Hen House doubles those, bring the price down to .53! I snagged two loaves and if I had a chest freezer I totally would go back for more!

Totals reflected below are prices I would have paid had I not had the $20 Hen House gift card (seeing as this was a gift, not a card I earned by buying products, using rebates, etc.).

Total Before Sales, Tax and Coupons: $116.80

Total After Sales and Coupons: $61.87

A couple of Giveaways!

• At the Kansas City Mamas blog you have the chance to win a dairy gift pack including a $25 gift card to HyVee! Enter HERE
• Here at Three Times the Giggles you have the chance to win your choice of items from my new Giggling Sweets Etsy Shop! (Hint, the Whoopie Pies are a very hot item!) Just go HERE to enter!

(Tip, right click on the above links and open a new tab or window so that you're sure to enter both giveaways!) 

Grand Opening Giveaway

It's no big secret among my family and friends that I love to bake. I love tweaking recipes and coming up with new ones. Problem though is my waist doesn't enjoy my baking so much (or maybe it enjoys it too much?). This summer I started trying to figure out a way I could continue to bake but not gain weight. Seeing as I haven't come up with a magic cookie that is calorie and fat free, I came up with a different plan. Etsy.

Yep, I've opened an Etsy store front and am now selling my delectable baked goods! Woohoo! There isn't a ton to pick from yet in my store, but I'll be adding more in the coming weeks. Various candies will likely be the newest additions. You can visit my store by clicking on the button in the left sidebar, clicking on the button below or by going here: http://www.gigglingsweets.etsy.com

In honor of my grand opening, everything is on sale now through next Friday the 18th!

A proper Grand Opening should of course include a giveaway in addition to a sale! Who wants to win some Whoopie Pies? Cookies? The prize can be for you or sent to someone on your Christmas list! Anyone can enter (family, that includes you!) and the more you promote this contest the better your odds at winning, so here's the giveaway break down...

Prize is winner's choice of any item from Giggling Sweets (order of Whoopie Pies, order of cookies, etc - no mixing of products)

Contest will run through 10pm CST this Sunday, the 13th. Winner will be announced Monday AM and winner will have 3 days to claim their prize.

• For one entry just comment here
• For an additional entry post about it (with link!) on Facebook
• For another entry blog about it (and link to this post!)
• For another entry Tweet about it (with link of course) 

(For each of the above, leave a comment saying what you did!)

Good luck! And thanks for spreading the word about my little hobby!

Want to double your chances of winning? Head on over to my friend Brenda's blog and enter there too! http://thebrisenos.blogspot.com/

WaterWeek - A Giveaway!

Not-so-funny story... As I was putting this post together I got a call from Nick. He had left for work about 15 minutes earlier, so I wasn't sure why he would be calling me already. Turns out after he stopped for gas the car wouldn't restart and he needed the boys and me to rescue him. Doh! He called for a tow while I scrambled to get the boys ready and then we sat in the gas station parking lot waiting for the  tow truck. Here's hoping the repair isn't too costly! All that to explain why this post is so late... Ok, onto the good stuff now!

A couple of weeks ago I received the WaterWeek in the mail for me to review. Simply put the WaterWeek is a set of 5 reusable water bottles that sit in a little stand in your fridge. Each time you get ready to head out the door, you can just reach into your fridge and grab a 16 ounce bottle of water to take with you (assuming you remembered to fill them of course)! The idea is that it not only saves you money by reducing the number of bottled waters you buy, but it also reduces pollution.

Nick and I have never been big on buying bottled water anyway as we saw it as a rather large waste of money. We've always had a large water bottle for each of us that we would just refill each morning before we left for work (obviously I'm talking about my pre-kid days here). That being said, since staying home with the boys I've started slacking in how much water I've been drinking and I was really hopeful that the WaterWeek would help rectify that.

You know what? The WaterWeek did help me drink more water! My usual water bottles hold between 20 and 30 ounces of water. The WaterWeek holds just 16. For some reason it's easier for me mentally to say I need to drink 3-4 WaterWeek bottles versus 2-3 of my big ones. Plus, because the WaterWeek doesn't hold as much, the water is still cold when I'm finishing the bottle up versus the end water in my other bottles getting kinda warm and stale towards the end.

The bottles claim to be dishwasher safe, but wouldn't fit on our top rack. I'll admit, I was skeptical about putting them on the bottom rack but knew I needed to give it a shot to give you all an accurate review. I'm happy to report the bottles do great on the bottom rack of the dishwasher!

Here are the only complaints we had...

Me: Because the mouths are so narrow I feel like it's hard to clean them thoroughly by hand (we don't run the dishwasher every night).

Nick: The designs are pretty girly.

Nick: Not enough water to last him the day at work, so he'll stick to his usual 40oz bottle and he felt like it wasn't quite enough water when he went to play basketball.

Other than those three items, we loved them! I love being able to just grab a bottle out of the fridge before I head out the door. The very first time I went out with a bottle I got two compliments on it! The boys also have an easy time holding the bottle and drinking from it themselves without making a huge mess (like they do with the large mouth water bottles). It's been perfect when heading out to the park, off to my Weight Watchers Meeting, grocery shopping and just hanging out here at home.

WaterWeek Rundown:

Bottles are 16oz

Bottles are BPA Free

Bottles are dishwasher safe

WaterWeek Website

Bottles perfect size for kid's lunch boxes are also available!

Here's the best part though - you now have a chance to win your very own WaterWeek! Contest will run through Thursday at 10pm CST and the winner will be announced Friday morning. For each of the items below that you do, please leave separate comments!

1. Tell me how you currently drink your water -

old water bottle, little paper cups, giant mug with a straw, etc.

2. Post about the giveaway on Facebook and include a link to this post.

3. Tweet about the giveaway and include a link to this post.

4. Become a follower of this blog (or tell me if you already are a follower!)

or let me know if you're a subscriber.

A very Happy Anniversary to my husband Nick! It's hard to believe it's been 7 years since that rainy morning in Maine when we got married. What a wonderful 7 years it has been though and I can't wait to see what the next 7 brings us!