The Morning Rush

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

It's a well-established fact that I hate mornings. I don't do anything well in the morning. Well, except for sleeping, that is. That is the one thing I'm very good at in the morning. Because I'm allergic to mornings, I've come up with a couple tips to make things a little less painful in those wee hours.

1. Coffee. Drink a cup the minute your feet hit the floor. Or, better yet, start an IV drip of coffee as soon as your alarm goes off.

2. Do as much as you can the night before. Make sure homework is completed and signed, backpacks are ready to go, and lunches are made. Set out clothes for little kids to eliminate an hour-long battle of what to wear. (This next one pertains to my 6-year-old) - attempt to find 2 matching shoes and lock them in a safe so he'll be able to locate them in the morning. If you can't find 2 matching shoes, try to at least find a left and right shoe of pairs that look similar.

3. Don't make things more complicated than they need to be! You don't have to braid your daughter's hair every day. Tell her to brush it in the car. Or let her go with it messy and hope she starts a new trend. And you don't need to cook a 12 course meal. Fruit, yogurt, toast, Pop-Tarts, cereal! Quick, nutritious, quick, yummy, quick, inexpensive, quick, filling, and quick!

4. Drive the kids to school in your pajamas. Don't worry about anyone seeing you. If they do, they'll probably be jealous they didn't think of it first. You can shower and get dressed later. After your own bowl of cereal and a couple more cups of coffee.

So, what things do you do to make mornings a little easier? For a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave me a comment here with your practical advice on making mornings less hectic.

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
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.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for TWENTY-THREE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.loveyourcereal.com/.

Kellogg's Winner - week five/take two

The winner of week five's $100 Visa gift card from Kellogg's and BlogHer didn't claim her prize, so the alternate random winner for week five is...

35 Deb said...
tweetedhttp://twitter.com/fairydancer35/status/24053438517

Congratulations! Email me at mom2my6pack@aol.com to claim your prize!

V-Fusion Winner

The random winner of the cooler filled with V8 V-Fusion + Green Tea is...


Cara! said...
Haven't tried this but seems fantastic!

Congratulations! You have 48 hours to email me back at mom2my6pack@aol.com with your shipping information.

Kellogg's Winners for Weeks 6 & 7

The random winners for weeks 6 & 7 ,for the $100 Visa gift card from Kellogg's and BlogHer are...


106 Sori said...
I make sure there are healthy snacks for the ravenous after school munchies.


79 Angel Jacklyn said...
TWEETED THE GIVEAWAY @ http://twitter.com/kytah00/status/25559985237 kytah00@yahoo.com

Congratulations!!!

Time to Slow Down & Enjoy

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

I've told you how much I hate mornings and how I don't do a very good job getting up and making my kids a hot breakfast during the week. But the weekends...ahhh, the weekends, are a different story. When I'm not awakened by my evil alarm clock, I'm a much more pleasant person. When I don't have to rush anyone off to school, I have time to cook breakfast and the kids have time to actually chew and taste it before gulping it down.

On Sundays, after church, we come home and cook Belgian waffles, or monkey bread. We cut up fresh fruit, fry up some bacon, and pour glasses of icy cold orange juice. My kids all help with the preparation. I love teaching my kids to cook. My daughter, Savannah is taking a foods class in high school this year. She's come home from school and told me, in disbelief, "Mom, the other kids didn't even know how to peel a potato!" Or, "No one else knew how to dice an onion!" I'm glad, by the time my kids leave the house, they'll possess basic cooking skills and won't have to eat popcorn for dinner every night. Now if I could just get them to help me clean up the kitchen...

So, how are weekends different in your home? Are they difference? For a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave me a comment here and let me know what kind of traditions you have for weekend breakfasts?

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
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.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for TWENTY-THREE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.loveyourcereal.com/.

photo from Or Hiltch's photostream

Cash, Check, or Charge - PASS week two

What is the currency choice for your teens? My teens operate on a cash system. When they get money for their birthdays, it’s generally cash. When I give them money for doing extra things around the house or watching their younger siblings, I pay them with cash. It’s convenient when paying for snacks at school, the occasional off-campus lunch, movies with friends, a shirt at the mall, or popcorn at the football game. My kids don’t usually order things online and when they do, they pay me in cash and I turn around and use my credit card or Paypal account to place the order. Why would they ever need another way to pay for anything? At least, that’s what I first thought when I was asked if I’d like to try out the new PASS card by American Express for my teens.

The more I thought about it, however, the more I liked the idea of PASS. For one thing, I can easily load their allowance to their cards online. I love that because I rarely have more than a couple dollars on me at any given time. It’s super-easy for me, as a parent, to manage their accounts and add funds to their cards from my computer. The kids can manage their accounts online as well, which is important for teaching them how to handle their finances. If your teens do order things online, they can use their PASS card to do it.

PASS is safer than cash because if your card is lost or stolen, you’re not responsible for fraudulent purchases, and American Express will replace the card free of charge. About three years ago, my daughter lent a large amount of money to a less-than-responsible acquaintance who didn’t pay her back until I got involved and informed this girl’s mother. And still, Savannah was never reimbursed the full amount. It was an expensive lesson learned. I think, with their money on a PASS card, it would be less likely that my kids would feel pressured into lending money to a friend.

That’s not to say that PASS would work for everything. They don’t accept cards like this at my kids’ school to pay for lunch. My kids either need to use cash or a PIN attached to a lunch account into which I deposit money. Sometimes, my kids will still need to use cash. But I do think PASS can be a great tool to help teach your kids about managing money and sticking to a budget, as well as a convenient way to pay for many things.

How do your teens pay for their purchases?

I am working with American Express on this project. As always, I'm writing my honest accounts and opinions.

I Don't Do Mornings

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

When I was a kid, my mom would get up, have her coffee while reading the paper, pay the bills, water her garden, make a few phone calls, cook me and my sister a hot breakfast, run 5K, learn a foreign language, discover life on another planet, and shave her legs all before 5:00AM. I, on the other hand, slept. And slept. And slept. And hit the snooze. And slept. And slept. And hit the snooze. Well, you get the idea. My mom would come in and whip the covers off me. I'd sleep. She flip up the window shades. I'd sleep. She spray my face with water. I'd sleep. She'd yell at me to get up. I'd sleep. She'd dump a bucket of water on me. I'd get up, but I wouldn't be happy about it and I'd make sure everyone with whom I came in contact experienced the full extent of my unhappiness.

Not much has changed. My mom still gets up before the birds. I still hit the snooze a dozen times before dragging my butt out of bed and shuffling through the house with my eyes closed. I'm thirty-ten years old. I'm pretty sure it's safe to assume I will never be one of those dreadful morning people. However, I have to admit, there's a part of me that would really like to be a morning person. I'd love to get up and have time to shower and dress before my kids woke up. I'd love to sit down with them and have a nice conversation over a hot, cooked-to-order breakfast. But that's never going to happen. I've accepted it. That's what dinner is for.

My mornings are always going to be rushed. I'm always going to wait until the last possible second to get out of bed. I'm probably always going to be less-than-pleasant in the morning. Hot breakfasts will always be reserved for weekends and special "Breakfast for Dinner" nights. But I'll still insist my kids eat something before heading off to school. Sometimes it's yogurt or a piece of fruit. Sometimes it's frozen waffles. Sometimes those waffles are even eaten frozen. Literally. Seriously, Clay ate a frozen waffle straight from the freezer and dipped in mayonnaise. Gag! But most often it's cereal. Cereal with milk is lower in calories than say, bacon & eggs, a croissant, or a bagel with cream cheese. Cereal is fortified with vitamins and minerals your kids need. In fact, I know my kids wouldn't come close to getting the recommended daily intake of vitamins and minerals without their morning bowl of cereal most days.

I'd love to say that I make sure our mornings are chock-full of quality, bonding time, but it would be a big fat lie. I save the quality time for moments when I'm actually awake and functioning. Mornings are spent quietly rushing around, eating a quick breakfast, and getting out the door. Sometimes the kids even have their backpacks, glasses, homework, and shoes when they leave the house!

So, how do you make sure you spend quality time with your kids in the morning? What do you do to ensure your kids eat a healthy breakfast? For a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave me a comment here and let me know how you start the day off on a positive note.

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
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.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for TWENTY-THREE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.loveyourcereal.com/.

Creative Commons photo is from g_kat26's flickr stream

The Money Talk - PASS week one

I've been wanting to talk to my teens about money for some time now. When I was asked if I'd be interested in trying out the new PASS card (not a credit or debit card, but a prepaid, reloadable card geared to teenagers from American Express), I checked it out and decided that I was definitely interested in trying it with my two oldest children. I thought PASS might fit into my plan to teach my teens about managing money.

So I sat my fourteen and fifteen-year-olds down and talked to them about high finance. Okay, so maybe it wasn't high finance, but I did have a money talk with them. I told them (especially now that I'm a single mom) how important it is to stick to a budget. I explained that I didn't have money for extras and that if they want to go to the movies or have lunch off-campus with friends, then they'd need to spend their own money on those kinds of things. There's a difference between wants and needs and even little kids can learn this.

I discussed possible ways for my kids to earn their own spending money. I've personally never liked the idea of tying an allowance to chores. I've always believed that my kids should help out around the house (cleaning their rooms, setting the table, washing dishes, putting laundry away, etc.) because that's what families do. Every member of the family pitches in to make the household work. When everyone works together and does their part, things run smoothly and there's time for fun. In return, if my kids wanted to go to the movies, I'd give them cash. If they wanted something that wasn't necessary like a new cell phone case, a video game, etc., I'd usually tell them to put it on their Christmas list, but sometimes I'd go ahead and buy it for them. I didn't give them an actual allowance. Now, I'm not saying you're wrong if you do tie an allowance to chores. There are arguments for that way of thinking as well. I just never did it myself.

However, now that my two oldest children are teenagers, I want to give them a little more freedom and responsibility. I want them to have the freedom to handle their money. There are very important, life-long lessons to be learned in this. And I want them to have the freedom to spend it as they see fit. Yes, I even want them to make little mistakes and learn from them now when we're talking about $20 as opposed to when they're adults and we're talking about $2,000.

On the flip side, I'm giving them more responsibility. Although I'm not directly tying their allowance to chores, I am expecting a little more help from them in return for a monthly allowance. Since I'm a single mom of six, I'm one busy lady and asking my teens to take out the garbage, mow the lawn and babysit the little kids now and then helps me out tremendously. I don't mind paying them in return. And I want them to be responsible for saving their money and setting aside a portion for tithing.

Over the following weeks, I'll be writing more about helping my teens to develop a spending plan. I'll let you know how these PASS cards fit into my teens' money plans. Check back here on Monday for the next post. In the meantime, if you want to look into it yourself, you can go HERE to get information about PASS from American Express.

I am working with American Express on this project. As always, I'm writing my honest accounts and opinions.

Sonic Winner - Take Two!

The winner of the $50 MySonic gift card didn't leave her email address and never came forward to claim her prize, so I've chosen an alternate random winner.


Anissa said...
I've only had the Limeades at Sonic (cran is my fav!) but I do like chocolate ice cream w/ raspberry topping (not sure if that's an option there but I love it).
August 26, 2010 9:35 AM

Congratulations! You have 48 hours to email me at mom2my6pack@aol.com to claim your prize. :)

V-Fusion + Green Tea = Yum!

I've written about V8 V-Fusion a few times over the past couple years. I just really love this drink, both for myself and for my kids. I think it's a great, easy, (not to mention delicious) way to add more fruit and vegetables to your diet. And now, V8 V-Fusion has come out with a new version that includes the antioxidant goodness of green tea.

I love the V-Fusion without the tea so when I was asked to try the new flavors with green tea, I jumped at the chance. I love these new flavors just as much as the original ones! I personally think these have a little bit "lighter" taste. The tea flavor is there enough to notice it, but it's subtle and doesn't have a bitter aftertaste. It was the perfect amount, in my opinion. I think these new juices with green tea are crisp and refreshing. My favorite is the pomegranate followed by the raspberry. Austin was the only other one in my family who tried the V-Fusion + Green Tea (mostly because I wouldn't share.) His favorite flavor was the pineapple mango.

Like the original V-Fusion flavors, the new ones with green tea don't have any added sugar, artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. It's good stuff that tastes great! (And they're yummy mixed with rum.) ;)

I have a cooler with one bottle of each of the three new flavors with green tea (pictured above) to give away to one random commenter.

No duplicate comments

Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.

Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail. If no email is provided in your comment, I'll announce the winner on my blog.

Winner will have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Life Just Got a Lot Busier!

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

I love having my kids home during the summer. I enjoy the laziness of summer - no schedules to speak of, no homework, no extracuricular activities. I love being able to roll out of bed when I'm ready to wake up instead of when my alarm clock goes off. I love being able to make impromptu plans with my kids. But summer vacation lasts about three weeks too long, in my opinion. Out of immeasureable boredom, my kids start inventing games like Beat my brother over the head with a drum stick and Throw toys all over the family room until someone trips and sprains an ankle and Let's scream and fight until the little vein in mom's neck sticks out and she disappears in her room with a bottle of wine.

It's a Catch 22 though. The kids are out of your hair and in school, but now you're back to the crazy busy school year schedule. How on earth do you transition between the lazy days of summer to the go-go-go schedule of the school year?

A couple weeks before school started, I adjusted my kids' bedtime, gradually making them go to bed earlier so it would be easier getting up on time for school.

I established a routine and made a chart listing everyone's chores and when they needed to be done. No longer do my kids have all day to take out the garbage or make their beds. With school and homework and sports now, we all needed to get more organized to make sure we had time to accomplish everything.



We no longer have all morning to lie around in our pajamas, eating breakfast whenever we feel like it. Our mornings are pretty rushed, so I always have several boxes of cereal on hand. My kids can get their own breakfasts and I know they're eating something healthy that will fill their tummys and tide them over until lunch. I always buy several boxes when it's on sale or when I have a coupon so it makes for a very inexpensive breakfast at that.

I've started planning out my dinners ahead of time. In the summer, I can just wing it and throw something together when we get hungry, but during the school year, between helping the kids with homework, and taking them to football practice and cheer, etc., I need meals planned and prepped ahead of time.

I have a hard time sticking to a schedule. I don't like my life so planned and regimented. I'm really more of a "fly by the seat of my pants" kinda gal. But, I have to admit that during the school year, a schedule of sorts makes things flow a lot more smoothly.

What do you do to transition between lazy summer days and school days? For a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave me a comment here and give me your best tip for transitioning to the busy school year.

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
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.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for TWENTY-THREE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.loveyourcereal.com/.

Kellogg's Winner - Week Five

Here's the week five winner of the Visa gift card from Kellogg's and BlogHer!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

28



Amanda said...
Highlight of the summer was a 3 week trip to South Korea to visit husband's family. Kids are 13 and 10 and loved meeting extended family!



Congratulations! You have 48 hours to email me at mom2my6pack@aol.com to claim your prize.

Kellogg's Winner - Week Four

Here's the week four winner of the Visa gift card from Kellogg's and BlogHer!

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:139

139Nicole said... Bananas and yogurt are our go to breakfast food when we are rushed!

Congratulations!

The Summer Highlight Reel

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Even though I was too sick to squeeze in any last minute excursions the last two weeks before my kids returned to school, I did manage to do a lot of fun activities earlier in our summer vacation. This year, I bought a pass to our local pool and the kids and Iwent several times a week throughout the summer.

We took a couple trips downtown Chicago that everyone enjoyed. One time, we spent the day walking around the lakefront, Millennium Park, and Grant Park. The other time, we saw a play at Chicago Shakespeare Theater and spent the rest of the day playing at Navy Pier, shopping, eating lunch, and riding the giant Ferris wheel.

We went to dozens of baseball, softball, and hockey games. We enjoyed many an evening, relaxing in our backyard while toasting marshmallows over a crackling fire pit. We even went camping in the tent I pitched in our family room. What? There were no mosquitoes or bears, and we had running water and air conditioning! I’m telling ya, that’s the way to camp!

And we spent a week in the Outer Banks, NC. We’d wake up, grab our bowls of cereal and fruit and head out to the huge deck that overlooked the ocean. We’d eat outside and enjoy the cool breeze while listening to the surf pound the shore. Ahhh, just thinking about it is making me want to go back.

So, what was the highlight of your summer?

For a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card, leave me a comment here and let me know what the best part of your summer was.

No duplicate comments
Blog about it and include a link in the comments here for a second chance.
Tweet about it and include a link in the comments here for another chance.
This giveaway is open to U.S. residents age 18 or over.
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.
For more official rules, go HERE.

And for TWENTY-THREE more chances to win, check out the other bloggers at the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page!

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit http://www.loveyourcereal.com/.