Lovable Labels - Holiday Specials and a Giveaway!

The countdown to Christmas is on! Are you ready? 

Lovable Labels is offering you a chance to not only finish off your  holiday shopping, but also protect the rest of your holiday purchases!

Along with all their great products offered all year round, Lovable Labels is offering these two great products, just for the holidays. 

The first is set is Stocking Stuffers that come in packs of three. You can pick one name or three different ones (based on the number of kids you are shopping for). Each set comes with 6 Sticker Labels, 8 Press N' Stick Clothing Dots, 2 Shoe Labels, and 1 Mini Metal Tag, all for only $15 - that's just $5 per child! 

We got to pick a set to review. I chose the Ice Ice Baby theme. We love Penguins around here! There are 7 designs to choose from.

I loved these. Even the packaging was holiday themed. And the Penguin was easy was even cuter in person. 

So what can you do with these? Well, you can make sure that your holiday purchases stay safe and make it back home. Got a new sled, the hottest one on the market, so looking exactly the same as everyone elses? Make sure yours comes home by labeling it. Those hand knit gloves from gramma made to look like a puppet? Use a label to make sure they come back home. And what perfect time for more shoe labels. Winter boots are tossed in a pile every time; make it easy for your child to find hers. 

Dishwasher and Microwave Safe, UV Resistant, Peel & Stick, Clothing DOTS washer & dryer safe. 

The other set out this year had me excited. While my kids have lots of things that are just theirs, we also share lots, like the food containers that we take to every holiday potluck or get together. Enter the Holiday Fun Stickies.
These are 16 labels for only $9.95. There are 4 different designs included in each pack. And you have four colors to choose from.

These labels are Dishwasher and Microwave Safe, UV Resistant, Peel & Stick

These labels have gone on all our food containers and everyone has made it back, even if I forgot to ask about it! 

And there is more! Lovable Labels is giving one lucky Canadian reader one of each set! That's right, one set of Stocking Stuffers and one set of Holiday Fun Stickies!

If you want to order now, you can get 10% off with my special discount code ChrisFLB2

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mad Dash For Christmas Cash Giveaway Event

Mad Dash For Christmas Cash Giveaway Event

Hosted by Mom Powered Media

Please take a moment and visit our sponsor: RewardIt

In just three months RewardIt has made over 100 people winners and is looking forward to launching very soon so that they can make even more people winners. RewardIt will also allow users to earn virtual currency called Reward$ just by searching the web, playing games, watching videos, redeeming coupons and much more!

One lucky reader will receive a $1,000 Visa Gift Card {or paypal cash}!

Giveaway starts November 12th at 8pm est and ends November 19th at 11:59pm, open worldwide, ages 18+. To enter please use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

Special thank you to our lovely co-hosts: Mom to Bed by 8, Powered By Mom, Real Mom Reviews and Baby Costcutters.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this publication. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. And Mommy Makes 3 is not responsible for sponsor prize shipment.  

Freaky Fall #Giveaway: $200 Cash, Gift Cards, Jewelry, and Goodies

Welcome to the Freaky Fall Giveaway!

Welcome to the Freaky Fall Giveaway where we have lots of cash, gift cards, jewelry, and other goodies up for grabs!

Welcome to the Freaky Fall Giveaway hosted by Like a Bump on a Blog, and made possible by the contributions of many wonderful writers and bloggers.  We have several great prizes up for grabs for one lucky winner, and we'll also be helping to promote the wonderful organization Look Better Feel Better (#LBFB) for cancer survivors and current cancer sufferers.

 Before we get into the prizes and entry form, I'd like to take a moment to thank our wonderful sponsors:

Aaron from Dadblunders made a generous contribution to the prize offerings, and his blog is one of the best parenting blogs around.

Monica's Rants, Raves & Reviews is a blog with a lot of fun things to check out, including giveaways, reviews, and rants, of course.

Intricate Knot is a beautiful spirit with a wonderful blog, and she's also quite the artist.

The beautiful and talented writer, Susan Silver, of Cirquedumot offers advice on blogging, social media, and everything in between.

Larry at Ireview central offers the best reviews for IOS users to choose the best products without wasting money on bad apps.

Becca J. Campbell has a wonderful writer blog called Inspiration for Creation, and her posts truly are informative and inspiring. You'll see a couple of those posts syndicated on this blog, and you will love her books.

A.E. Howard is a Blogger BookFair Awards winner in the Fantasy Category, and her talent is evident in her book ratings.

Emerson Creek Pottery has gorgeous handmade ceramic pottery made in the USA, and all of their products are lead-free.

Thanks to everyone for making it possible to grant one lucky reader a fantastic head-start on holiday season shopping!

 Now to the awesome prizes! 

$200 PayPal Cash

A $25 Amazon giftcard to bring joy to your online shopping experience!

$10 iTunes giftcard

One limited edition Oscar de la Renta Scarf for supporting #LGFB

An Emerson Creek Pottery Onion soup bowl in the pattern of your choosing. I chose the Blue Crab pattern, and I love this piece!

3 Mid-finger rings from Merlin's Apprentice.

 Cute, dainty beads compliment these ear cuffs from Merlin's Apprentice.

A set of small, cute ear-cuffs by Merlin's Apprentice.

A set of 3 beautiful Artistic greeting cards from Cards for a Gloomy Day.

Foreign Identity by Becca J. Campbell. Click image for more details.

Not the Norm by Becca J. Campbell. Click image for more details.

Flight of Blue by: Keepers of the Key Chronicles by A.E. Howard. Click image for more details.

In order to be eligible for any of the above prizes, you must complete all steps of the Rafflecopter entry or be disqualified. I hate to be harsh, but a lot of effort has gone into this giveaway to make it possible to reward a wonderful and faithful reader and supporter of blogs and books. Thanks for entering and continually supporting various communities and organizations!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck and happy winning!

Mickey Mouse Halloween Event - Giveaway!

Welcome to the Mickey Mouse Halloween Event!

Hosted by Mom Blog Society

This adorable 3' Tall Airblown Inflatable Halloween Mickey Mouse self-inflates in seconds. It's easy to set up and store. Stakes and tethers are included.

3' Tall Airblown Inflatable Halloween Mickey Mouse Features:

• Measures 3'H
• Lights up
• Weather-resistant design
• Self-inflates in seconds
• Deflates down for easy storage
• Quick and easy set-up
• Stakes and tethers included

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Great Clubhouse Hunt is an Halloween themed DVD premiere based on the popular series on the Disney Channel. Mickey takes you on the ultimate adventure to find his friends and to put back together the clubhouse, which has mysteriously broken into parts and disappeared with his friends inside! Featuring favorite characters Minnie Mouse, Donald, Goofy and Daisy Duck. Have the happiest candy haul ever this Halloween night carrying the glowing Disney Store Light-Up Jack O'Lantern Mickey Mouse Trick or Treat Bucket. The frosted features of Mickey's pumpkin face light-up in rotating red, green, and yellow tones. $25 Wal-Mart Gift Card

Raking in the Cash Giveaway - $700 Open WorldWide

Welcome to the $700 Raking in the Cash Giveaway!

Hosted by Giveaway Promote.

If you love entering giveaways, sweepstakes and contests, you’ll find the latest and greatest listed on Giveaway Promote.

Subscribe to free giveaways via email.

---

Enter to win $500 Cash or $200 Cash via PayPal.

We’re giving away a total of $700 cash via PayPal to two lucky people. Complete the tasks below to earn entries into this giveaway. Two winners will be chosen at random from all valid entries.

Open Worldwide.

Ends at 11:59pm EST on October 14th, 2012.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bloggers, join a group giveaway event like this one! Sign up to be emailed about future events hosted by Giveaway Promote.

If you'd like to hear about all group giveaway and hop events open for blogger sign-ups, subscribe to Giveaway Promote's weekly group giveaway events and hops newsletter.

My Hikes - Giveaway

It's time for another giveaway!!!

I'm trying to drive followers to both Twitter and Facebook and a quick way to get a boost to these is with a giveaway.

I have and use the My Hikes. I first got mine off one of those deal sites and have since gotten a couple given to me, so I have surplus to share with my readers. I'm doing this giveaway on my own with nothing provided by the My Hikes people but I love supporting and promoting Mommy ideas and businesses.

Kids grow. When you buy clothes for them you can either buy them so that they fit 'right now' and replace them in a month or two, or you do what I do, and buy them a bit big and make them last as long as possible. Adjustable waistbands have been a savior in my place with my skinny kids, but what to do about pant legs that drag on the ground? You roll them up, they roll back down. You could hem and re-hem regularly, but really, who has the time.

My Hikes are perfect. Just fold up the pants and clip them on. Tada! And they stay. Kids grew overnight? No problem, just fold to a different place and put the clip on. So simple. Only a mom could have thought of this.

Forget to take them off? Seems to be no problem at my place. I've done this a few times and they survive the washer (they have not gone in the dryer yet so no promises there.) The picture above was taken just after they were removed from the pants that went through the washer.

 See, Corwyn's pants are nicely held up (and would be dry if he hadn't sat on the ground).

Nathan's pants are dragging and under his shoes, etc. I roll them up every 20 minutes or so when he notices them down again.

You can win the My Hikes pictured still in their original packaging on the left. The ones on the right have been used (and abused) regularly for over 6 months and still look great.

Now, you could go to the My Hikes website and buy a set or two for 19.99 each, or you could enter to get a set for free with a few simple steps. The giveaway is open World Wide. I already have the My Hikes and they are flat enough to send in a envelop and I love my followers from all over.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle…..Repurpose? (Giveaway Closed)

While repurpose can fit into the reuse category, it often gets overlooked. What is it you ask? Well, it’s reusing something that would normally get trashed in a way that is different from the original use.

Along with being a great mom and an incredible artist, my sister Hilary is the master of repurposing things. Some of it came from need (supporting her family on no other income) some from being an artist and some because she really gives a damn about the earth.

A few years ago on my birthday, Hilary made me this most amazing coat rack out of a used board. Look at it. Really look. It’s all hand carved, hand painted from a design all her own. Each scale is not just painted on, it’s carved into the wood. Can you feel the love? Can you see the work that went into it? I have this mounted at kid level for the boys to use. I want them to see it daily and appreciate the wonderful things in life.

Her more recent artistic endeavors have moved over to jewelry. All of it is amazing and is almost the only jewelry I have. These two pieces were Christmas and Birthday presents 3 or so years ago. Nice eh!

But then 2 years ago, she sent me this amazing piece. Along with this narrative:

The pendant for this necklace is made from the leg of an old and broken mahogany headboard that was set out on the curb for garbage pick up. I'm on a mission to divert as much old wood from landfills as possible. Items that can't be fixed up and re-used are repurposed as jewellery or other household items.

The pendant is hand carved and completely unique. No patterns were used for its design. I hope you enjoy both the necklace and its story.

I was blown away. Luckily that headboard is big, because this year, I got this piece and was even more impressed (sorry for the poor photography)

Then, to be more wonderful, she made and sent these great puzzles for the boys. They were made from an old bookcase that was destined for the dump. Can you imagine, instead of taking up room in the landfill, these wonderful toys have emerged. I put my glasses in and turned one piece on the side so you could see how sturdy these are. Incredible, wooden,  hand painted and hand carved toys! What lucky boys I have.

I really want to share her work and support her efforts to keep her family going. So I offered to host a giveaway on my blog. No, you can’t have any of the pieces above, those are mine and I won't part with them for anything. Hilary probably doesn’t know, but I still even have the soup tureen that she glazed when she was still in high school and working with for potter for the summer.

If you would like to buy a work of art in either a toy or jewelry form, you can contact Hilary directly at to work out the details.  The pendants start at $50 unstrung, and go up based on effort, what other beads are used in stringing etc. Of course, you would also cover shipping (which is minimal on the jewelery) For more information, email Hilary at htyler_35@sympatico.ca


If you want to take the chance, you can win this incredible necklace, made from the same headboard as mine were. It will also include the document about its origin.

Mandatory entry: Tell me how you have repurposed an item (with a use not originally intended) that would otherwise end up in the landfill.

Extra Entry 1: follow me publicly on google friend connect


Extra Entry 2: tweet this giveaway (can be done daily) and leave me the direct link (I check)
#Win jewelry @ChrisRFretwell (Can/USA) Ends 04/24 #Giveaway http://bit.ly/hBaQMj

Extra Entry 3: blog about this giveaway and let me know how to find it (2 entries)

Contest closes May 24 (midnight PST also my birthday) and is open to Canada and the USA.

Although you won't get entries, you can get good karma by clicking on the button for Top Mommy Blogs (just click, your vote will be counted).
And for my undying thanks, you can also vote on Facebook to help us win a lifetime family pass to the Aquarium. It's such a wonderful thing and not something I can't always afford. It's a one-time vote, so if you've already done it. Thanks. https://apps.facebook.com/vanaqua/gallery/single/255

And the winner is....

Via random.org the winner of the coffee card giveaway was glogirl

I am following you on Twitter @glogirl3 and tweeted: http://twitter.com/glogirl3/status/38720152996556800

She's been emailed and has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be selected.
 
Thanks to everyone who entered. From reading the comments, it seems for many green foods (broccoli, brussel sprouts etc) were the most common foods that were disliked and now liked.
 
Watch the blog for my next giveaway sometime this week.

Assorted Updates

Cloth diapering is still going well. I've gotten back into the flow of it. I'm planning a review on my diaper stash. I'm still getting a few more here and there. Its not because I dont have enough, but because I have tall boys and with most of the one-size diapers cracks are starting to show. This isn't a huge deal unless there is a less than formed pooped. Yuck. I also found Rock in Green which I'll include in my review. It was a life saver, or rather nose saver.

Weight Watchers is going okay. I've lost almost 5 pounds. Its not much, but given that I will go days without tracking, its pretty good and all in the right direction. I know if I track daily, then I'll loose faster. I've also lost over 5 inches around the usual measured body parts. This I like.

I have enough followers now from the Coffee Card giveaway to have the jewelery give-away. I'll be posting that sometime next week.

No pictures with this post. I have a fun set of pictures for Wordless Wednesday so you'll have to wait a tiny bit.

Coffee Giftcard Giveaway - Ends Feb 25 - Closed

This contest is now closed. Thanks for your interest.

So I really want to do a jewelery giveaway of one of my sisters amazing works, but I don't think I have enough followers to give her work the justice it deserves. So I'm hosting a self-funded giveaway to generate more followers.

The winner will get a $10 gift card. For my American friends, it will be a Starbucks card (in their new electronic format). If the winner is Canadian, then you will get snail mailed a choice of a Starbucks or Tim Hortons card for $10.

Mandatory Entry: Follow me publicly on GFC and leave me a comment telling me a food you refused to eat as a child but love as an adult (1 entry)

Optional Entry: Follow me on Twitter @ChrisRFretwell and tweet this "Get your caffeine fix in this #giveaway @ChrisRFretwell http://bit.ly/gUJViE US/CAN" (can be done once daily, you must leave a link to the tweet)

Contest expires Midnight pacific time, Feb 25. Open to US and Canada. 

For good karma, but no extra entries, please click the Top Mommy blogs button to vote for me in the Twins and Multiples category (just click the button and you'll be voting).

Rocking Good Time

The boys went with their playgroup on a fieldtrip on Friday and we had a blast. It's one of those indoor playgrounds. This one had a toddler section, making it a good place for us to go.

Overall, we had a blast. Both boys were terrified of the ball pit. We could coax them in a few times, but then they freaked out and got out as fast as they can, crying if someone was in their way. That was okay, as you can see from the pictures, they had lots of other fun. The touch screen computers were a real hit with Nathan. Corwyn couldn't get enough of the rocking horses.

Nathan got tired and cranky around 20 minutes before it was time to leave (we were there for 2 hours total). So I was holding him, his head resting on my shoulder. Then he started with the occasional giggle. He was watching the kids in the ball pit. 10 minutes later, he wanted down and let me to the ball pit where he climbed in cautiously. After a few pokes at the balls, he was diving and jumping and loving it. Of course, then it was time to leave. So I carried him, kicking and screaming out of the pit this time.

Here are some pictures of our adventure. Unfortunately, my camera got broken in that trip. It's my small camera, so I can still take pictures with my DLSR, but that one doesn't go out adventuring. Not sure when it will be replaced. I'll keep you posted.

Oh yeah, the last picture is a teaser for the giveaway I'm planning next month. No, you cant have that one, its mine. But it will be a piece by the same artisan, who also happens to be my sister (and a mom trying to support her family). Follow me if you don't already. I wont be having the giveaway until I get to at least 50 on GFC. You can also vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs. It can help me get more followers fast. To vote, just click the button. No need to do anything else. You can do that daily too if you want.

Button, Button, who has the Button?

ME!!!!


Thats right, thank to Giveaways, Giveaways, Giveaways my blog has a button. Look over to your right - there it is. Cute isnt it?

Feel free to add it to your page. Why? No reason right now. But when I get to either 50 GFC followers or 50 votes in Top Mommy blogs, I'm going to have a giveaway! It wont be a sponsored giveaway, but it will be good. It might get you extra entries to have my button.

We've had a rough weekend in our place. Nathan was first to be hit with the horrid stomach bug going around. Just as he was getting better, Corwyn went down for the count. Luckily, dispite a complete lack of sleep, mommy seems to have been missed. The friends who took Corwyn on the morning when Nathan was at his worse weren't quite so lucky. But they seem okay now. Took a few days to get back to normal energy and eating levels. This picture of Nathan was around 10am, the first sleep he had since starting to throw up at midnight.
 

Christmas - A few pictures

I owe words and descriptions, but I had so much fun with the boys that by the time night rolled around, I didn't have the energy for it. So for now, some pictures.  The first couple are the Eve, after Santa had been. Followed by the morning. It doesn't take much to guess which presents were the biggest hits (and still are).  The last is the best Christmas gift I think I've ever gotten. They were done by a friend of my moms.

Keep coming back for more pictures and updates. I'm also planning a couple of giveaways soon.

I have a new button on the right, trying to get some votes on Top Mommy Blogs. Please click (you can click daily if you like). Also, the Reeces Rainbow link now shows that all the Angels met their holiday goals this year. Hopefully several of these wonderful kids will find homes soon.