My First Giveaway!

We are still deep in "picky preschooler" territory around our house. This can range from what to wear each day (the season changes are killers - how late can one wear "summer" crocs around outside?) to the inevitable food battles. We're eating a lot of peanut butter and mac-n-cheese. Daniel does OK with the standard fruits like bananas and apples and grapes, but tends to turn up his nose at anything too exotic. And a vegetable would cry for some recognition around here. I make sure he gets a multivitamin, and try not to stress too much about it.

So when Yoplait offered a chance to try their kids yogurt, I was definitely on board. Yoplait Kids Yogurt provides:

- 16 mg. of naturally sourced Omega-3 DHA per serving
- Excellent souce of calcium
- No artificial sweeteners or flavors
- Good source of vitamins A and D
- With protein
- 25 percent less sugar than the leading kid's yogurt

My guy who is a picky eater will drink lots of things, and he dove into the Mixed Berry yogurt drink with gusto. He also found a picture of the yogurt I had lying around on our computer desk and came running saying: "I want this."

I need to get back to the grocery store!

I am also excited to present my very first giveaway! Win a prize pack from Yoplait: A cooler, a coupon for Yoplait Kids Yogurt and a Brain Quest game.

The rules:
1) Leave a comment on this post to enter. (Make sure I have an email, or some way to get in touch!) Just say hi, or just for fun leave me a tip that helped your picky eater get on with eating.
2) Visit my blog Dirt Makes Fat and subscribe to get an extra entry. Tabs at the top will keep you in touch with us here at Relishing the Dirt as well.

Contest ends October 16th.

Where's that instruction manual?

Lorilee Craker’s book The Wide-Eyed Wonder Years: A Mommy Guide to Preschool Daze couldn’t have arrived at a better time for me and my just-turned-three-year-old son. Daniel has been existing on a diet of peanut-butter crackers and macaroni and cheese. On the good days I can get an occasional banana, or a cup of yogurt in there. Daniel has boundless energy, and can usually be found bouncing on my bed or somersaulting from the couch. I try not to fret about it.

Enter Ms. Craker’s book. Written in an engaging, easy to read style reminiscent of gabbing with your Mommy group about raising kids - she tackles issues like picky eaters and more. This book can be read cover to cover, or there are fifteen chapters with amusing titles such as: "I Can’t Believe He Said That!"(kids say anything and everything, usually at the most inconvenient time) and "If You’re Going to Kill Each Other, Do It in the Basement!"(what to do about sibling squabbles). So if you like, you can jump to a particular area of interest.

Each chapter is liberally sprinkled with anecdotes from her "preschool panel" as well as stories from her own life, and examples as to what some Moms did when their little one, say, wanted to wear shorts in January. It was also nice to see a few chapters devoted to Moms such as: "Mom and Dad Got It Goin’ On" and "Mommy Minispas" to name a few.

On those days when your best buds aren’t around, this book is a nice portable way to remind yourself about the wonders of raising our little ones.

Think Pink

My household occasionally feels like testosterone city. I spend my time stepping on matchbox cars and Spiderman or Batman action figures, and it’s not unusual to see H striding through the living room with Daniel firmly attached to his back - upside down. So the girly side of me gave a little squee of delight when I opened the package from 24/7 Moms with a lovely pink MomAgenda to test-drive.

I have a slight addiction to planners. It usually strikes sometime in the fall as the year is winding to a close, and visions of a better-organized me tiptoe ahead of me sprinkling flowers in my path.

MomAgenda is wonderful! Wide pages leave lots of space for information, and I can block in my week up top, and start a schedule for Daniel in the slots for kids below. (My friend Kim with five kids might have to squeeze a bit... but it’s loads of room for me.) I like the idea of planning dinners for the week, but I am rarely so organized. We’ll have to see if this new available space gives me some inspiration.

The front is chock-full of useful information such as: online resources, toll-free numbers, lists of holidays. The rear follows up with advance calendar planning into the coming year and many, many blank pages for planning/making notes with titles such as: books, movies, music, fashion, restaurants, wines, health, fitness... There are pages for entertaining and party planning, vacation ideas and planning, and just blank pages to scribble on to your heart’s desire. The final address book is removable, thank goodness as I spend far too much time transferring numbers when I get a new one.

I’m enjoying having useful information in one neat, pretty package.

Found Money

Even before the baby I would find myself suddenly complaining that the purse I was carrying around (and afterwards the diaper bag) would after awhile come to feel like I had a secret stash of bricks inside. I'd fuss, and fume and harrumph. And when the bag was finally turned upside down about a pound and a half of change would fall out.

I started stashing the stuff. We've managed to keep the coins out of the couch cushions, but they turn up on counters, tables, in the laundry. I even found Daniel stooped over in the parking lot of the library the other day, and when I asked him what he was looking at he nonchalantly replied: Money, while poking in the dirt with his finger. Sure enough it was a penny. When I heft the piggy bank, and it starts to feel a little, um, hefty, I tote the thing to the grocery store with me and plunk the contents in the Coinstar counting machine. Invariably I can get between $10-$20 off our groceries this way.

Awhile back I saw an ad for a credit card that pretty much wanted to do this same thing for you. They said that they would round your purchases up to the nearest dollar and stick the difference into a savings account. I remember scoffing to myself, and thinking: Why do I need you to do that?? I can do that myself. It's found money that would just be junking up my car or weighing down my diaper bag - it's amazing!

The Cupcake Conspiracy

On the technical side of the conspiracy going on around my house lately: I LOVE the muffin tin. I did load it into the oven by placing it on a cookie sheet... I just wasn't sure how bendy the silicone could potentially get after being in the oven. The cup sizes are a little different, and so the blueberry muffins ran over a little - but that can be adjusted. And something I never even considered until I tried them... the muffins were all uniformly cooked! My old metal tin would leave them darker in spots, especially directly on the bottoms, but these tasted even yummier. Give some silicone bakeware a try!

Next up:

Mommy Jewelry

I love silver jewelry, and was excited to find Beth at Heart on Your Wrist. I actually purchased a few items this past year, getting a necklace for each of the "Grandmas" for Mother's Day, and even splurging on something for little ol' me.

Beautiful pieces, speedy professional service - I highly recommend giving Beth a try if this is something you are looking for. Her website has been updated with new designs - or create your own - and even fun words to wear.

Crafty

I have a weakness for craft fairs. I just love strolling the booths, looking at one-of-a-kind items... jewelry, clothing, art, you name it. While there isn't the same ambiance as getting to personally stroll and examine the items, I just love Etsy.

Artists sell their work at this online store. The site is very searchable... I recently bought some Star Wars photo artwork cards as a birthday present for a friend. Take a look, click around, type in something off-the-wall... you might be surprised at what you find.