I’m a mild girl myself, but I do enjoy salsa with tortilla chips.  So when Mom Central contacted me about doing a review of a new line of Rosarita salsas, I could hardly say no.  Besides, I thought it would go perfectly with our annual New Year’s Eve snack-fest.  Each year we do up an assortment of appetizers and snack foods and instead of having a meal that night, we just snack on yummy things all night long.  And if you’re having a snack fest, you’ve pretty much got to have salsa.

The salsa initially arrived in pieces.  Which isn’t exactly how you hope to receive a package of salsa.  The Fed Ex guy didn’t even ring our doorbell when he dropped off the package and I can hardly blame him.  Luckily, Mom Central got another package out to me ASAP and it arrived just in time for our New Year’s Eve celebration.

We received three bottles of salsa.  A mild, a medium (with green peppers) and a hot.  Now, as I mentioned before, I’m a mild girl.  So I only really tried the mild.  But I liked it!  Word to the wise for other mild child’s out there: this salsa still has some kick!  Which was definitely tasty but also required a glass of water to cool my tongue.  And also, this cemented my decision not to try the medium or the hot.  Instead, my more intrepid husband tried those.  And his verdict:  SPICY!  (the hot)  TASTY! (both)  I would definitely rank these salsa’s up there with Pace and the Walmart store brand, which is what we normally buy.  And I was right, these salsa’s fit right in with our holiday snack-fest.

I even tried some over a microwave burrito the other day and OMG so good.  I like rather plain bean and cheese burritos, but they are somewhat bland.  A good salsa always punches it up and I think the Rosarita salsa is the best compliment I’ve tried so far.

This new line of salsas is still in somewhat limited release.  Currently, according to Rosarita, they can only be found in four cities — LA, Dallas, Phoenix, and Denver — at select Walmart and grocery stores.  However, when I was at my local Walmart just a week or so ago, I found these salsas on the shelf there.  I would say, if you don’t live in one of those cities, don’t expect to find it.  But if you do?  Bonus!

Do you love salsa like I do?  Hey, even mild child’s can love salsa.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Rosarita and received a sample to facilitate my candid review. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

I wasn’t disappointed! I couldn’t say for sure, but I think this year they’ve doubled (or maybe even tripled!) the number of available designs to choose from.  And there is literally something for everyone.  Do you want a secular holiday card, appropriate for passing out as someone who doesn’t celebrate Christmas?  Or maybe you’re looking for something with a heart-felt message of faith?  Do your interests swing towards the more modern, or retro-stylish look?  Perhaps you prefer a traditional, elegant card.  Whatever your fancy, Minted has what you’re looking for.

It was a tough choice, but this card fit the bill!

Last year I mentioned that the cost might be somewhat prohibitive.  It’s still a little pricey for those of us who do most of our Christmas card shopping at places like Walmart, but when you consider the quality and service you get with Minted, the prices are really not that bad.   Especially when you consider you can get corporate cards, engagement announcements, wedding invitations, baby shower announcements…. the list goes on.  Custom cards like that aren’t exactly cheap, and Minted’s prices are very much in line and often, you can get a great deal on something that looks like it cost a whole lot more.

Last year, everyone was very impressed with our Christmas cards.  We had many people ask us where got them from and I was more than happy to pass on the information.  We’re not usually the bragging sorts, but it felt good to have people ooh and ahh over our cards (and the cute kiddo pics we selected go on them!).

It also needs to be mentioned that Minted has made the ordering process even simpler than it was last year.  Last year I wanted to have a picture of each of my three children on the front of the card.  Unfortunately, it was next to impossible to get everyone together in one picture and looking appropriate.  I wanted to use one picture for each child.  My solution was firing up my trust photo editing program and creating a collage that I saved as one image and then used that.  Not difficult at all for me, but I can see where other people might not be able to or know how to do that for themselves.  This year, Minted offers many cards that are MADE for multiple images.  I had my pick of beautiful designs, since I planned to do the same this year, with three separate images.

Once you submit your order, the folks at Minted proof it closely, making sure the typography is centered and that the photos are looking their best.  I was impressed at how quickly they got back to me via email with a proof to approve.  And once approved, it took just a few days for the order to show up on my doorstep.  So if you’re thinking it’s too late to get custom cards this year, think again!

Consider pampering yourself (and your loved ones!) with a custom card from Minted this year.  It sure had eliminated a lot of guesswork for me this year and I’m actually (gasp) looking forward to sending these out!   I just need to go get stamps and I’m all set!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by MotherTalk on behalf of “Lakeshore Christmas” and received a copy of the book to facilitate my candid review. In addition, Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

I’m a busy gal.  I don’t have time for a lot of things anymore… shoot, I hardly have enough time to blog.  One activity that has sadly fallen by the wayside is reading.  Sure, I made time for each and every Harry Potter book when they were released and there was the two months or so last year when I fell victim to “Twilight Mania”.  But I used to read every day.  Every night, before I went to sleep.  And I haven’t done that in a long time.

When I was contacted about joining this blog tour, I very nearly passed up on it.  But then I saw that it was a Christmas novel.

I have a history with Christmas novels, particular those of the romantic variety.  Every year at Christmas, I would find at least one Christmas-themed “anthology”, of sorts.  I would devour the stories because not only were they sappy towards love, but sappy towards the holiday.  And I am an admitted Christmas Nutcase.

I’d heard great things about the author of this particular novel, Susan Wiggs, and maybe even read a book or two of hers back in the day.  Adding to my intrigue, was learning that this particular book was part of a series, called the “Lakeshore Chronicles”.  I have a hard time resisting a series.  There’s something about a book that is part of a series.  The side-characters are more interesting and intriguing, the atmosphere is almost homey, lived in.  So here we were taking about a Christmas romance that is part of a series of books based around this one little town in upstate New York.

I was THERE.

And you know?  I wasn’t the least bit disappointed.  I was excited to receive the book in the mail and each night before I went to sleep, I would read a chapter.  Or two.  Or three.  You know how it is.  I quickly found myself engrossed with the story, the setting, the characters, the whole shebang.  And before long, I became aware that I was going to have to track down some of the other Lakeshore Chronicles books because I want to read about these other characters.  Particularly one, who’s sub-plot was left on a rather intriguing cliffhanger.

Still, despite being part of a series of books, I never once felt like I was picking a story up halfway through.  The author did a splendid job of summarizing past stories and getting you comfortable and friendly with the town and it’s inhabitants.  Never once did I feel there was a joke I was missing out on, a common problem with reading a book mid-series.

This book was an easy, quick and fun read.  I was rather disappointed when I was finished because that meant a) I would have to leave these lovely characters behind and b) I now no longer had anything to read before bed!

I would suggest, if you are a Christmas nutcase like myself, are a fan of romantic novels or just of reading in general, and want a cozy and entertaining story to read while snuggled up in front of the fire this season, you look no further than “Lakeshore Christmas” by Susan Wiggs.  You won’t be disappointed!

I was recently given an opportunity to check out a new program offered by AT&T Wireless cellphone service that allows you to register the cell phones in your family and from there, check on their whereabouts.  For those who have children with cellphones, this is a fantastic idea.  I try not to be a nervous parent, and I think most of the time, I do pretty good.  I don’t hover too much, I make practical judgments and I don’t take chances.  And as careful as I am, there are times that I need to let him and go and do things on his own.  School is obvious, but not as stress-inducing as it’s a walk to the corner to catch the bus and the school is barely a mile away.  But what about those times that he’s going on an outing with a friend and their family?  Or when we send him to Elko to stay with my in-laws as we often do when he has breaks from school?   Those times, it’s nice to know where he is.  And it’s nice to be able to know when he arrives at a destination too.  Basically, this service from AT&T Wireless gives a parent like me peace of mind.

This brand new service is called AT&T FamilyMap.  And it is exactly what it says.  It’s a map of your family!  From your home computer or even your mobile phone (if you have web browser capabilities), you can log into your account and with the click of a button, check up on your family and see where they are with your own eyes.   Think of how handy this is when you call your teen aged daughter and she says she’s at the library but the FamilyMap tells you she’s at her boyfriend’s house instead!    But more than that, it eases a worried mind.

The features here are truly nifty too!  You can set up schedules for the different phones in your family and it will automatically check on the location of that phone at the given time.  So if you need to know if your daughter made it to school or your son made it to soccer practice on time, you can with amazing ease.  You’ll be sent a text message to your phone with the status so you know right away.

I’ve been playing around with this and have been very pleased!  In spite of my husband’s phone showing up as being in Florida for the first day (still not sure why that happened), it works perfectly, showing me when he gets to work, and even better, when he’s on his way home (I can’t be the only one who counts the minutes until their husband gets home at night, can I?).   I couldn’t locate my son’s phone at first until I found out that it had fallen behind his bed and the battery had run out.  One charge-up later, and I could see when he got to school and where he was playing down the street at a friend’s house, even!

Need more information? To learn more, and sign up for a free, 30-day trial, check out the FamilyMap site. Free trials are AWESOME! Also, check out how the rest of the BlogHer Reviewers explored AT&T FamilyMap – you have 10 chances to win a $100 Visa gift card. You read that right… you can WIN. And you can win right here too!

Because that’s the best news yet: there’s a contest! What do you need to do? To enter, just leave me a comment below and tell me how you keep your peace of mind – or you may leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below. The contest will begin at 8/27/2009 and will end 9/20/2009. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct.

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
This giveaway is open to US-residents, aged 18 and older
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Your peace of mind can be regarding your family, as mine is, or it could be a strategy for keeping your cool at work, or dealing with difficult family members or anything else you can think of! Please no “scary” stories, just share the good stuff with us! What helps you get through the day, the tips and tricks for calm and serenity that work the best for you.

What can you win? As I mentioned before, a $100 Visa gift card, to use however you’d like! In addition to peace of mind, who couldn’t use that? So don’t be shy, leave your comment below and enter today! This contest will be over September 20th, so don’t delay.

Oh, and check out the official contest rules.  Good luck!

ETA: Thank you to everyone who entered this contest!  I fired up random.org and their handy dandy number generator and the winner is comment #…. 7!  Lucky 7!  Congratulations, Bonnie!  I will be contacting you shortly for address information.  And again, thanks to everyone for chiming in, I really enjoyed reading all the responses!

I was thrilled recently to get the chance to review some one-size pocket diapers from Happy Baby Cloth Diapers.  I started out cloth diapering using primarily largely manufactured diapers, such as bumGenius and Fuzzibunz.  But I find now that I know more about cloth diapers and am more comfortable with them as a whole, that I am enjoying even more the diapers that are made by WAHMs (Work at Home Moms).   I love supporting crafty mamas trying to earn a few pennies for their families and often the workmanship is unparalleled.

Such is the case with Happy Baby diapers.  I received two of the one-size pocket diapers to try out and I have to say, I am in love.  These diapers have quickly been elevated to “nap diapers” in our house, which to those of you out there who use cloth diapers, you know that is high praise indeed!  I can not only trust these diapers (and the super thirsty inserts they came with) to absorb what I need them to, but unlike some of our older Fuzzibunz, these stay on my son who has recently cultivated a newfound interest in stripping during naptime.  Not so with the Happy Baby diapers though!  There is no gaping, they fit snugly and comfortably, and so far my son has yet to try to remove them.  Yay!

As you can see, there isn’t a whole lot of extra room to grow here.  Then again, my son is getting close to potty training age.  Still, he’s on the skinny side so you might want to beware if you have an extra chubby wee one.  But I have played around with the different snap settings and I feel confident in saying that these diapers would fit small babies well without a whole lot of extra bulk.  The fit is trim and yet comfortable.

The sewing is quality work.  The seams are all straight and tight.  The snaps are all applied correctly and evenly.  The elastic is tight and stretchy.  The fleece on the inner of the diaper is soft and effective at keeping my son’s diaper area dry in between changes. The PUL (polyurethane laminate) that keeps the diaper water-proof is thick and effective.  No leaks here!

If I had any constructive criticism (other than the snugness on older children), it would be the pocket that you stuff with inserts.  It’s a little snug to get your hand inside and the position of the pocket can make it difficult to remove an insert from a soiled diaper.  I would probably move it up closer to the waistband so that the insert could be easily shaken out over a diaper pail.  That said, it’s a minor inconvenience on a diaper that works so well for us!

I think I will certainly be interested in getting a few more of these to so that we have enough for naptime and outtings every day!  The WAHM behind Happy Baby Cloth Diapers is super nice to work with and you can be confident that she does a great job on these diapers.  Also? The price is VERY right for a one-sized diaper.  If you’re looking to start cloth diapering or if you already do and would like to try a new diaper, give these a try.  You won’t be sorry!

Enter the SYLVANIA PalPODzzz Portable Nightlights.  It’s a mouthful, but the gist is it’s a cute little light to chase away the boogeymen and monsters at night.  PalPODzzz come in two different designs, the ladybug for that little girl in your life, and a rocket ship, which is what we got.  These cute little lights plug into an outlet but also have a rechargable flashlight (in our case, the rocketship detaches from the base for use as a flashlight).  This is GENIUS, because if there’s one thing my 9 year old loves, it’s a flashlight at night when he’s in bed.  And if there’s one thing I hate, it’s when my 9 year old wastes a couple of batteries from leaving a flashlight on all night.  This here is a win-win situation.

Another side-benefit of this cute little light is that it matches my boys’ room decor PERFECTLY.  Their room is done up in full outer-space motif with dark blue ceiling with glow in the dark stars, rocketship painted on the wall… the works!  This light is perfect and both the boys love how it looks like a toy.

There are still some nights when we find the lights on after bedtime, but with this wonderful nightlight, those nights are becoming few and far between.  Hopefully, those energy wasting days will soon be a thing of the past.

Many thanks to SYLVANNIA and to the Parent Bloggers Network for letting me try this out.  It is a perfect fit in our home and if you have some little ones who have a healthy fear of the dark, chances are it will be perfect for your home too.

Breakfast has always been one of my favorite meals, ever since I was a little girl.  I have vivid recollections of creeping downstairs on Saturday morning, before anyone else in the house was awake and watching cartoons all by myself.  My dad was usually up an hour or so later and he would always pour me a bowl of cereal.  I can also remember when my older brothers and sisters would come downstairs for breakfast on school days, I would eat cereal with each and every one of them in turn, keeping them company.  I can remember creating a “cereal box fortress” surrounding my bowl so I could examine the puzzles and pictures on the backs while I ate.  I can remember rooting through many a box in search of the infamous “free inside”.

Ahh… memories.

These are the sorts of feelings I want to pass down to my children.  And so far?  So good.  But my nine year old doesn’t have much patience for any cereal that doesn’t have a metric ton of sugar in it.  Which is why I’m grateful for General Mills and their “Grow Up Strong” campaign for children’s cereals.

It’s so hard anymore to get kids to eat healthy. And when it comes to important vitamins and minerals like calcium and vitamin D, 75% of kids do not get the daily amount.  75%.  That’s HUGE.  Because without calcium and vitamin D, how can our children grow healthy bones?  The good news is that it’s easy to find these nutrients by looking for foods and drinks fortified with calcium and vitamin D.   And even better news is that all of General Mills’ Big G kid cereals offer a good source of both nutrients.

Need more convincing?  A “recent report in a leading consumer magazine ranked kid cereals by nutritional content, and all nine General Mills Big G kid cereals included in the report were ranked in the top half.”  Not just that, but all Big G kid cereals have at least 8 grams of whole grains per serving which is a great start towards fullfilling the daily whole grain nutritional requirement.  And if it’s sugar you’re worried about, Big G kid cereals have 12 grams or less sugar in each serving.

General Mills was kind enough to send us a box of their Lucky Charms to try out and enjoy and you would have thought itwas Christmas again at our house.  Lucky Charms just happens to be one of my nine year olds most favorite cereals.  Even my two year old has gotten in on the fun and it’s hard to find ANYTHING that child will willingly eat.  Not a problem with Lucky Charms, he gobbled that up right away.  What a peace of mind for me!  Because I know he’s getting nutrition at the same time he thinks he’s getting a treat.

So thank you, General Mills, for giving me that peace of mind.  And thank you to the Mom Bloggers Club for hooking me up with this great review.    And remember, don’t forget to eat your breakfast!  It is the most important meal of the day, after all.

And when Boogie Superstar by Electronic Arts for the Wii arrived on our doorstep, courtesty of the Parent Bloggers Network, well, you would have thought Santa Claus himself had brought it.  I officially became the Coolest Mom Ever.  He couldn’t wait to get done with his homework so that he could try it out.

In many ways, Boogie Superstar is cooler than your average karaoke or average dancing game.  Because it is BOTH.  And, even better, you can compete, “American Idol” style, to be the next Boogie Superstar.  Just watch out for “Vickie”, as she’s a mean spirited judge that puts even Simon Cowell to shame. In fact, you can shake things up by challenging yourself to some of Vickie’s worst sabotage (such as blocking lyrics and switching out dance moves).

I’m not familiar with all the songs on the game (so far, at least.  We’ve only unlocked a few so far), but the ones I don’t know are catching on.  I have found myself humming “Take You There” several times during the day.  That one gets in your head!  The dance moves are challenging enough and so are the songs, that my son is kept entertained.  I imagine he would play it for hours and hours at a time if I let him.

And this one isn’t just for the kiddos either.  I think this game would be a great hit at your next party or holiday gathering.  In fact, we had the idea on Thanksgiving to play “Thanksgiving Idol”, with each of us in our family having a crack at the game.  Now that beats watching a stupid football game ANY DAY.  (At least in my book it does.)

If your kid likes music like mine does and loves to play video games too, check out Boogie Superstar for the Wii.  I bet your child would be thrilled to see this one under the tree come Christmas morning!

Boy, am I ever glad I took that shot.  I didn’t know much about the “Littlest Pet Shop” franchise before getting this game, since my daughter is only 8 months old and we try to stay away from too much marketing around here.  Apparently, there is a big line of “Littlest Pet Shop” games on the Nintendo DS too.  This is not to mention the abundance of toys at the local department store.  The notion with the game is you adopt and name (and accesorize!) various pets (everything from a hampster to a frog, which was my personal favorite) and then you can play with these pets in various “lands”.  You make sure that each pet is getting enough affection and food, and then purchase different playground equipment with “kibble” that you earn by playing on other playground equipment.  It’s oddly addictive, brightly colored, cheerful and engaging.

My son, in a word, LOVES it.  I tried to get him to think of some constructive criticism and he couldn’t think of one thing.  He told me that it was one of his most favorite games ever.  Considering how this boy feels about Rock Band, that’s high praise indeed.  I even had fun, helping him play a game with one of the pets one afternoon.  We laughed and shouted at the television and had a great time together.  The games are fun and there is literally SO MUCH to do in this game, that it could seriously be months before your child gets bored with it.

I honestly think this is a game that could be great for the whole family.  Small children could easily understand it and older children and even adults can have fun exploring the worlds and playing the games.  The genius is in the simplicity.  So if you’re looking for a great game for the Wii fans on your Christmas list, look no further than “Littlest Pet Shop“.

But then we started getting frustrated with the wait time.  We would make an appointment well enough in advance, but it never failed that we would spend 30 minutes (or more!) waiting in the little waiting area with the germ infested bead coaster and watching a movie on the tiny television.  Waiting with a toddler sucks, if you weren’t already aware.  We were there for Christmas portraits and finally had HAD IT.  We never felt like the photographer took enough time trying to get good pictures.  Once they saw we had the $5 coupon, they would take a picture until we were relatively sure we got the shot we wanted and that was it.  There was little to no personal attention.  It was very disappointing.

It was around this time that Picture People was getting going in our local mall so we started going there.  It was a bit pricier, but the customer service, quick turn-around and attractive prints made it worth our while.  And, over the years, we’ve gotten less professional portraits taken.  Harry gets school pictures done and since Liam and now Evie came into our lives, there just hasn’t been the time for it.  And, of course, Picture People packed up and left town.

I decided to bite the bullet and made an appointment at Sears Portrait Studio, hoping that enough time had passed that their practices had improved over the years.  We found out within 5 minutes of arriving that no, they had not.   At least, that’s what I believed when we were told that they were very busy, several appointments had run over and that our appointment had been “bumped”.  She meant to call us, honest!  She could see about fitting us in later.  Let’s see, it was 1pm… how would 7pm work?  We’d only have to kill six hours at the mall with a surly third grader and two wee children.  SURE, WHY NOT?  We told her we’d think about it and made ourselves scarce faster than you can say, “Not on your life, sister!”

But my story doesn’t end there.  After mentioning on my blog about my less-than-satisfactory experience, I was contacted by someone at Sears Portrait Studio.  They wanted to make it right for us and would we consider giving Sears Portrait Studio another shot?  They didn’t even ask for details on what went wrong with our experience, just that they would ensure we were treated well.  What did I have to lose?  Our local studio contacted us (the manager called me on her cell-phone to set up the appointment and assured me she would be there to photograph us as well) and we made an appointment.  I started to get jazzed, hoping that FINALLY I would have a picture of all three of my children.

The studio manager called again a day before our photo appointment to go over the details with us.  She asked what the children would be wearing, what sort of portraits we were hoping to get and other details.  Before we even stepped foot in the studio, I felt like a very important customer.  And when we arrived, that feeling only deepened.  We never had to sit in the waiting area, as we were whisked back for our session right away.  The manager and another photographer were there on hand to help us capture our children (no mean feat when you factor in Liam).  I was still doubtful that we’d be able to get many quality pictures of Liam, at least, but I was game.

In short, we were taken VERY well care of.  Liam wasn’t good for more than about two photos in a row, but the women were more than happy to go at his speed and let him take breaks as often as he wanted.  Though I was stressed about Liam’s behavior, the women never made me feel like I had anything to be nervous about.  The mood was very calm and relaxed and I appreciated that more than I can say.  After the session, the manager went over the photos with us, helping us make our selections and giving advice where she saw fit.  Of course they tried to sell us their most expensive packages, I would have been suspicious if they hadn’t, but I never felt like I was put on the spot either.  The ball was entirely in our court.

We ordered our pictures and were on our way.  Two weeks later when the pictures came in at the store, we were given a phone call.  A few days later, a framed portrait we were given as an incentive came in and again we were given a call by the manager.  We picked the pictures up and they are GORGEOUS.  They turned out even better than I had hoped and I am so glad that I decided to give Sears Portrait Studio another chance.  If you’ve felt burned by them in the past, like I had, I urge you to give them another shot.  While we were treated like VIPs, I could tell that a lot had changed about their practices in general and I will be happy to return there in the future for more pictures (I’m thinking Evie will need some 1 Year pictures!).  And check out this beautiful framed picture we got:

Not just a gorgeous photo but HUGE.

To give you some idea of scale… sorry it’s so blurry!

Edit 12/9/2009: I’m going ahead and closing comments on this post.  This post is well over a year old now, after all.  The discussion has been very interesting and I’ve definitely understood everyone’s issues.  While Sears made it right for me and my family, it would appear that they have quite a ways to go to improve customer satisfaction overall.  I believe it can be done!