Gamewright Games Winner!

And we have a winner folks!

Thanks to the random number gods at random.org they have chosen a comment at random (thus, random.org):

Here is your random number:

01

Timestamp: 2009-11-08 21:15:30 UTC

So let's give a round of applause to ROBERTVILLE who said"

"i follow your other blog - later betty bargains"

Congratulations!

Gamewright Games Night Giveaway!

Well, I have to say it right from the beginning...


We love this game!!!

From the oldest member of our family (me) to the youngest (our four year old daughter), we all give "thumbs up" to the Can You See What I see? Finders Keepers game. Even our eight year old son, who can get cranky and very competitive with games, didn't seem to care whether he won or lost. He didn't even notice it was a game really intended for his sister's age.

The Gamewright company has a great mission when it comes to games and puzzles:

"Create the highest quality family games with outstanding play-value. Guided by themes and experiences that transcend age and salted with a bit of irreverence, our games are designed to foster laughter, learning, friendship and fun."

And this game, based on Walter Wick's Can You See What I See series of books, is a fabulous example of how the rubber meets the road in regard to their mission. Both parents and children can look at one of his visual puzzles and be equally challenged. Gamewright has captured Wick's spirit in this game. As you play, you’ll refine visual discrimination skills as well as sharpen focus and concentration! Who doesn't need to sharpen that skill, I ask you?

One round only takes about ten minutes to play so it's easy to say "yes" to the question we parents hear over and over, which is... "Can we play again, puh-leeeeese?". There is absolutely no reading required which is great with a family where there is an obvious age gap. Usually we haven't found many games that our 8 year old and 4 year old both ask to play and can play together too! And at $14.99 it's a great family game night game.

The only complaint I have about the card game is the cards themselves. They are made of very sturdy material, kind of like board books. This sounds good and I am sure they hold up fabulously over time. My gripe with them is that shuffling the cards is nearly impossible. But this would not stop me from buying the game because of all the other great reasons mentioned previously. Plus, the quality Gamewright puts into their games is evident. They're "lifer games"...ones that'll be around when we have grandkids. It's definitely on my list of great gifts to buy for birthday and holiday presents.

And now you, dear readers, can have a Gamewright Games Night too! The folks at Gamewright have generously offered to giveaway one of their newest games, Say Cheese, to one lucky reader. Say Cheese is a super fast dice game. Quickly roll your dice to match the characters on the photo booth cards. The game is for ages six and up and there is no reading required so you might even be able to get under the "six year old requirement".




Here's what you need to do to get a chance to win the game:

• Go to Gamewright Games and choose which game sounds like the most fun to you. Come back here and leave a comment telling me the name of the game AND an e-mail to contact you if you win.

For additional chances to win you could do the following and leave a comment for each that you do:

• become a follower of Later Betty's Bargains or I'll tell you later Betty, my sister blog
  
• become a fan of Gamewright Games at Facebook
• Follow me, LaterBetty, on twitter by clicking the twitter button and tweet about the giveaway (with a re-tweet, of course, to me)
• Read my review of another Gamewright game at I'll tell you later Betty... and enter that giveaway too.

Leave a comment for each entry. Giveaway is open to anyone in North America and closes at midnight est on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. Winner will be chosen from Random.org, will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn. Thanks for entering! On your mark, get set....go!

Kids Konserve is the Cool Way to go Green!

Kids Konserve is a company that designs and sells waste-free lunch kits and other reusable products geared toward conservation of the earth's resources.

"Focusing on how school lunch programs operate opened their eyes and propelled them to create Kids Konserve. Calculating the amount of trash being produced each day at their own schools during the lunch hour alone, shocked them enough to begin more research into reusable products that dramatically cut down on Earth’s ever growing garbage pile."

Kids Konserve supports conservation efforts by sponsoring recycling programs and fundraisers for schools. Their website offers great suggestions that schools can implement very easily.

Later Betty's Bargains readers are being given the opportunity to participate in keeping our Mother Earth healthy. Kids Konserve is offering our readers a 15% discount to as an incentive to consider such a hip and green product. Through October 30, 2009 just go to Kids Konserve, find your favorite products and at checkout use the coupon code "betty" to get 15% off your purchase. Then you've taken part in avoiding your school's cafeteria producing this:

This is a photo of just one day's trash from a school cafeteria!

Best Baby Products Carnival Is Almost Here!

Thrifty and Chic Mom is having a fantastic carnival of giveaways in September! To welcome her new baby girl she is having the best baby products carnival. Check out this impressive list:

• Bumbleride Indie Twin Stroller
• Ergo Heart 2 Heart
• O Yikes!
• Moon Over Maize
• HappyBaby Meals
• Playskool
• Two Tinas
• The Sofia Valeria Collection
• Designs By Dad
• Smart Mom Jewelry
• Little Luvee
• Happy Panda Baby

Just click on the carnival link or the above photo and follow Thrifty and Chic Mom's directions for entering! Good luck...oh, and congrats to Thrifty and Chic Mom too.

Your Zone - cool room at cool prices...gift card giveaway!

Mom knows it all, one of the Wal-mart More than Eleven Moms (how can I get into that group?), is hosting a fabulous giveaway...wait for it...

...A $500 gift card from Wal-mart!

I thought there had to be some gimmick like agreeing to work for Wal-mart for free or something ludicrous like that. But no, it's a simple giveaway like most blogs. All you have to do is check out the line of fantastic furniture, bedding and accessories called "Your Zone" and leave a comment about back at Mom knows it all about what two things you'd buy from Your Zone. It's that simple.

I like simple. And Your Zone makes it simple to decorate your children's rooms in a fashion forward way without breaking the bank. Both my kids need a redesign. Since we've moved to South Carolina my four year old girl's mattress is on the floor and my 8 year old's dresser got damaged in the move. So you can imagine they each need some TLC.

Here's my son jumping on his bed. As you can see in the background it's pretty dull. Your Zone would definitely brighten it up and make it more of a boy's room!


Here's to possibilities! Go on over to Mom knows it all get your own piece of possibility!

Fairy Houses Giveaway!

Head on over to I'll Tell You Later Betty and check out the giveaway of the book, Fairy Houses by Tracy Kane. Light-beams Publishing is a fabulous publishing house that encourages both children and adults to get to know fairies and nature better. Enter to win a copy of this great book. Go on! Click away and get over to Betty's!

Winner of Name Your Tune

And the winner is...(chosen from random.org)

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

3

Timestamp: 2009-08-11 22:59:15 UTC

Congrats breiz! I'll be contacting you and hope to hear from you in 48 hours!

Here's what she said:

breiz said...

This would be great for my kids!

August 7, 2009 8:34 AM



Name Your Tune: Personalized Music Made to Order Giveaway!

We are jammin' at our house!

Miss Anna Mae, our four year old star in the making, can't believe that there are songs out there just made for her. She is beside herself with pride and joy. All this exuberance is the result of receiving the "Name Your Tune" personalized CD full of music that babies, toddlers and kids love to hear and sing. They love this CD so much because there are 14 songs that incorporate their name into each song. I was worried it was going to be either really cheesy or the songs would have a strange robotic quality but Name Your Tune is all about great quality and uber cuteness. Our eight year old son, who I thought would be too old to appreciate it, was disappointed there wasn't a CD for him with his name as part of the music.

When you order the CD, Name Your Tune has you choose a title for the CD. We've been into the lives of fairies in our little home lately so I thought it would be really fun for this music to be made by a music fairy. So the title was: "Magical Music for Anna Mae made by your music fairy, Adalira". When the CD came in the mail and I read the title to our little fairy, her eyes lit up and she insisted we play it right then and there. Once the music started she was sold. She began talking about how lucky she was to have a fairy that would make music just for her! I've heard her many times during nap time and at bed time singing these songs to herself. Nothing is more precious than that.

The founders of Name Your Tune possible are have professional experience with education and music. This combination is the perfect storm for learning and development. They also are invested in giving back to their community which, as a licensed clinical social worker, always seals the deal with me. Co-Founder Eric Alper helped to establish a Fun fest, called "Hear Here" that raises money to assist hearing impaired kids get hearing aids. Name Your Tune proudly donates a portion from their CD sales to support Hear Here.

The cost of the CD is $20 which may seem a little pricey but if you take into account what you'd spend on a gift, I think, hits the mark. Plus, it's a personalized gift which is difficult to find at that price level. All in all, it's a fabulously fun way to interact with you child even when the CD isn't playing. We've found ourselves singing them to Anna and Gavin (switching names out) when we feel like bursting into song...uh, which is kinda frequently around our house.

So...do you want one? Are you curious? Well, Name that Tune has generously offered to provide one reader their own personalized copy of the Name Your Tune CD. All you have to do is go to their website and come back leaving a comment about their products that I haven't mentioned in this post. They've got some great personalized products for sale! So go on! Take a look, you won't be disappointed.

Want additional entries in the giveaway? Here's what you can do (only available once the main entry has been completed):

• Follow me and/or subscribe by reader
• Follow me at "I'll tell you Later Betty" and/or subscribe by reader
• Follow me on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway (you can do this once daily). Post the link to your Tweet in the comments below.
  
• Follow Name Your Tune on Twitter
  
• Become a fan of Name Your Tune on Facebook
  

Leave a comment for each entry. Giveaway is open to anyone in North America and closes at midnight est on Monday, August 10, 2009. Winner will be chosen from Random.org, will be emailed and has 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn. Thanks for entering! On your mark, get set....go!

Imagination Box Winner!

We have a winner for the Imagination Box Company Giveaway. Using Random.org's random number generator:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

4

Timestamp: 2009-05-10 20:37:33 UTC


This comment was #4:

The Dreamer said...

tough choice for my son between the barn and the firehouse. :)

addeviant006 at gmail dot com
May 2, 2009 10:41 PM

Congratulations "The Dreamer"!

Imagination Box Company Saves National Turn Off Week and offers giveaway too!

Now before you scoff at this title and decided to click somewhere else - wait and read. It's really all about me, the mama. The Mama who loves arts and crafts beyond words but has a secret little computer addiction that many times keeps her from playing with the kids as much as she would like. I knew that the challenge of National Turnoff Week was just the kick in the tookus I needed to balance out things in our little house. If you are interested in seeing what we did head on over to I'll tell you later Betty, she'll tell you all about it. One thing we did was create Imagination Boxes generously given to us by Kim & Russell, co-owners of the Imagination Box Co., a company dedicated to producing socially and environmentally responsible toys that spark children's imagination. Both my 8 year old and 3 year old were very excited to get started on their boxes. Gavin, my 8 year old, chose the paintable Firehouse/Rescue Station and Anna, the 3 year old, chose the paintable Country Cottage. Anna got out her paints and she was painting away. I found I really had to restrain myself from becoming the arts and crafts dictator. Letting her choose her own colors and discover how colors combine to make new colors was all part of the process. What it came down to was Mama wanted a box of her own to paint - living vicariously through my children's play, heavy sigh. Finally she invited me to paint too and we had a ball creating what she christened as her "Fairy Cottage". I even wrote a little "Welcome Fairies" above the door. It was very easy to paint and there was room for some free drawing on the box. Anna wanted rugs in her house so we got out the sharpie pen and drew a couple of rugs which she promptly painted. The only difficult part was her ability to reach all the areas of such a big box. But with adult supervision and turning the box all different directions we were able to paint our own masterpiece.

Gavin, who has sensory issues, didn't want anything to do with the paint. "It's too messy for me", he stated. So we pulled out the crayons and he went to town. I ended up helping him with his project too as he found some of the parts to color repetitive. But that's because he decided the bricks had to be all one color and thus creating his own repetitiveness. With crayons we colored on the floor which made the size of the box a non-issue.

We did question, as people sensitive to the environment and frugal by nature, whether or not we could have done that ourselves with our own cardboard boxes. But here's the deal...yes, I could have made my own...but chances are I wouldn't because I'm busy doing other things quite honestly. And these are way cooler than anything I could have come up with. I am not an artist by trade but come by perfectionism honestly. Anything I would have made would have looked like a six year old drew it...no thanks. I'll take the Imagination Box Company's version any day.

What I love about Imagination Boxes

• Creating it is play in and of itself but then the kids have a playhouse for imaginary play. Anna got out her "my little ponies" and immediately set up house. So there is value in this toy since it keeps on "giving".
• Made with sturdy double walled corrugated board, these toys are extremely durable so they're made to last.
  
• The details on the different boxes make them so unique. I tried to capture some of those details in a few of the pictures.
  
• They are so easy to put together. Plus, if your space is limited, like in our little house, just "unfold" them and tuck them under a bed or behind a sofa.
  
• It is fabulous for both individual and co-operative play. One of my kids has a hard time
  "playing with others" but since he was the project manager cooperative play was welcomed. It was a joy to see that happen.

About the Company

Kim and Russell, are not only co-owners of the company they are wife and husband too. Their story speaks to finding and honoring your voice. As artists and parents of three daughters, the last of which was home schooled and raised without cable TV, they were committed to encouraging creativity in their home. Russell actually made these boxes for their youngest and they became the neighborhood hit. Everyone wanted one!

Imagination Box Company is a direct reflection of their lifestyle. Many years ago, before it was hip to be green, Russell and Kim became concerned about the environment. They also became more uncomfortable with the messages that were being marketed to kids. They are strongly against any sort of violence in toys and also don’t believe in advertising directly to children. Getting back to basics is what they believe in. Peaceful toys for the children and the earth. What more can a Quaker mom ask for?

Imagination Box Company has generously offered my readers a chance to win a box of their choice. To enter all you have to do is go to their website , look at the choices, come back and leave a comment with which box you'd chose and a way to contact you.

Extra ways to enter:

1. Click the "tell a friend" button at the end of this post and tweet about it. Use rt@LaterBetty and leave a comment that you tweeted. Feel free to follow me as well.
2. Click the "tell a friend" button at the end of this post and choose another social network (my favorites are technorati and kirtsy), comment what you did.
3. Follow me here or at I'll tell you later Betty or subscribe to my feed, comment that you did
   
4. For five extra entries blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with a link to the post.

Good luck! The giveaway is closed on May 6, 2009 at midnight est.

My Punchbowl Premium Membership Winner!

Congratulations to Manic Mother who was chosen by a true random number generator at random.org ! She won a 1 year premium membership to mypunchbowl.com valued at $29.95!

Her post:

Manic Mother said...

I like the ecards especially the mothers day ones.

April 19, 2009 11:10 AM

My Punchbowl makes me look good - Giveaway!

After being approached by the folks at My Punchbowl to write a review of their party planning website, I knew that my trip back to the Hoosier state would now be smooth sailing. Now you may be asking yourself,"How does this chick connect party planning and traveling to Indiana (yes, the Hoosier state)?". Well, the last time we sojourned to family and friends I was pretty nonchalant about the whole visit. Let me tell you, that didn't go over so well. A couple blog posts later about how much fun we had and the pictures to prove it, created hurt feelings by those friends and family who hadn't. I was determined not to let that happen this time. And My Punchbowl was going to be my partner in perfect planning.

The Process

Signing up was a breeze and it's free(you know I like that)! I was like a kid in a candy shop because creating My Punchbowl invitations is like digital scrapbooking. I decided what needed to happen was to warn remind my peeps that the Clinton posse was heading into town. I needed a "Save the Date" card to virtually send everyone in Central Indiana who cared about our visit. So I named my "event" Indiana Bound and started the creative process. The thing I dreaded was transferring all those e-mail addresses. No problem! My Punchbowl is living in the 21st century and has a handy dandy way to import those puppies and organize them beautifully.

What fun I had! I got to pick from all sorts of "paper", fonts, colors, even virtual ribbons if I wanted. I ended up playing with the "Save the Date" form to create a schedule of where we would be when and contact information so no one could complain say they didn't know we were in town. Now, one of my computers is an old man, which made creating my card a very slow process. But once I moved to my computer that is a middle aged woman everything moved at a normal rate of speed and I was able to get it done before we actually left! Plus, I was able to fit in everything in the card that people needed to know to see us (if they wanted to) and avoid us (if they didn't want to). Here's what I came up with:

Party planning for my daughter's birthday in June is going to be a breeze thanks to My Punchbowl.com.

You Can Win a Premium Membership

So My Punchbowl is generously offering a one year premium membership to one of my lucky readers. With a premium membership you get not only award winning features and hundreds of design options, you also get priority tech support, premium designs, more fonts, papers, and ribbons and exclusive partner offers. All of this plus advertising free creations comes with the premium membership. So, are you curious enough now to check out the perfect party planning website? Are you asking, "What do I need to do to win this membership? Tell me now!".

Well, to get a chance to win a premium membership leave a comment by midnight est April 22 , 2009 with the following info: (and please leave a comment & e-mail addy for each entry):

• Visit My Punchbowl and leave a comment about the site that I didn't share

For addition entries into the giveaway this is what you can do:

1. Subscribe to My Punchbowl leaving user name and what event you'll be planning in the comment.
   
2. Follow me at Twitter and tweet about this giveaway with RT@LaterBetty included in your tweet.
3. Follow either one of my blogs or subscribe to a feed of either one of Betty's blogs

I'll announce the winner on April 23rd and contact them by e-mail as well. Now get out there and start commenting!

It's Hip Hop Baby!

We are getting our groove on in our little house today, thanks to It's Hip Hop Baby. My three year old, Anna, the minute I opened the package and showed her the DVD, immediately turned off her favorite cartoon and said, "Let's dance, mama!". So we did just that. Our dvd, Rockin' Dance Party, was about thirty minutes long, just long enough to hold little Anna's attention and long enough for Mama to realize she's really outa shape. Grrrr. Hip Hop Simon, a hip hop mouse, was our M.C. and Anna determined that he was not scary like another mouse we know whose first name begins with C and last name is Cheese. That's good because the dvd player would have been turned off quicker than you can say, "One more token... please?".

We danced to over eight songs over the thirty minutes. Anna decided her favorite was "Bathtime" because of all the bubbles and her least favorite was "Old McDonald" because they didn't dance. What I loved as an adult participating was the hip hop dance instructor, Miss Dre. She taught this old dog some new tricks! Now, I may have to watch it several times to perfect them but, no worries, I've got a 3 year old as an excuse to pop that baby into the dvd player and shake my groove thing.

Who Came up with this great idea?

After reading some background about why the company was created in the first place I was definitely sold on the concept. Candi Carter, a mom with a speech delayed son, found she was using music and rhythm to help her son communicate. It helped him follow instructions easier and learn words faster. My little guy, who is not so little now, is speech delayed and I wish I had this available to me back then. Inspired by her son, she set out to create the educational series "It's Hip Hop Baby" and having a career as a Emmy Award winning television producer for a nationally sindicated talk show (hmmm, I'm wondering if I can get some tickets?), helped her dream become a reality. These innovative videos have the educational content parents desire set to music and fun dance moves which helps kids to learn and reach developmental milestones more quickly.

Where Can I buy It's Hip Hop Baby?

It's Hip Hop Baby DVDs, CDs and T-shirts are available through their website and at Amazon. And right now Amazon has them on sale for $7.99! That, my dear readers, is a great deal! Thanks to It's Hip Hop Baby for giving me the opportunity to review such a great DVD! Now get on over to Amazon and get your groove on!

Swing set Nirvana

Image by ClintJCL via Flickr

Back in the day, the swing set I had as a kid was like the picture you see here. This kind of swing set held all sorts of dangerous fun for children like myself who went unsupervised for hours by mothers watching soaps and smoking cigarettes (oh, those were the days, huh?). While they were, uhhh, busy, we were trying our best to get our swing set to tip over by swinging with a passion rarely witnessed by adults.

Well, Dad Blogs is having an amazing giveaway to bring the joy back to many a kid. No, they're not giving away a vintage metal swing set ready to tip over at any moment. Yeah, I'm kinda disappointed too. But what they are giving away is an amazing play set from Kid's Creations. Kid's Creations is giving away their most popular play set model (shipping included!!), the Three Ring Adventure, to one lucky contestant of The Big Spring Contest at Dad Blogs and Dad Blogs is throwing in a Canon PowerShot SD1100 so the lucky winner can capture the kids doing all those dangerous things we got away with "in the olden days" as my son, god bless him, says.



So this bad boy is called "The Three Ring Adventure". And I'm thinking if they had the Three Ring Adventure back when I was a kid maybe the strong desire to tip over massive metal structures would have been squelched by pure safe fun. Ahhh, probably not - it's in my blood.

And, if I'm honest with myself (which I try to avoid at all cost), my son is half mountain goat and my daughter is half monkey. No, dear readers, this is not the post to go into their paternity issues as curious as you may be...this is all about the giveaway. And this giveaway would be perfect for Mountain goat and Monkey to honor their heritage. Plus, Dad and Mom can sit in Adirondack chairs with beverages of our choice (wink wink) and watch them, remembering the times we were able to tip that puppy over and laugh at them that they can't (plus breathing a sigh of relief all at the same time).

So get on over to Dad Blogs and check out the giveaway. And while you're there check out the site itself. There is an amazing bunch of talented writers to check out and become a part of...heck, it's not even a boys' club - women can join too!

Here's to those summer days we pushed the limits of childhood, joy, and freedom. And may you find it again this Summer.

Naturally Step into Spring Event at Natural Mommie

The eco-chic & eco-friendly "Naturally Step Into Spring" event begins March 21st. At Natural Mommie you'll learn about products that are not only green but hip too. She is kicking off Spring by hosting a google of giveaways! There is going to be holding a month's worth of eco-friendly daily giveaways! Her goal is to make the world a little kinder and greener for our children and our children's children one fabulous find at a time. That's a win-win if you ask me! So mark your calendar and bookmark Natural Mommie for great reviews and fantastic giveaways. They're not only good for the environment they're good for you too!

Freepeat.org Membership Winners!

This was a mega-winner giveaway! Ten lucky readers won memberships to Freepeats. They were selected by a random number generator and they are:

• #2 Mama Krit
• #3 La Familia Sobaje
• #4 Kristy
• #6 Jen Clark
• #8 Sarah
• #10 Storm, the Psychotic Housewife
• #11 Sarah in Indy
• #12 Rock Star Ma
• #13 Kendra
• #14 Shelly

Congratulations! You'll be receiving an e-mail from Angie of Baby Cheapskates letting you know about your membership in your chosen city. Keep reading for more reviews and giveaways!

Calling All Parents of Reluctant Readers!

March is National Reading Month and as a parent of a reluctant reader I can speak to the importance of keeping reading alive in your house in anyway you can. Bonggamom is having a giveaway in honor of National Reading Month that is great for reluctant readers. Leapfrog has been an educational company I have turned to many times to help our kids along the way to reading. Leapfrog wants to inspire families to read together more. So for National Reading Month, they've launched the 1 Million Reading Hours Campaign. All you have to do is commit to an amount of time you'll read to your child a day. Simple.

For Bonggamom's giveaway, go back to her blog and leave a comment as to how many minutes you committed to read to your child. Once again, simple. And you could win a Leapfrog Tag! How great is that?

Be Green with Freepeats Giveaway

In my little house I have lots of baby and kid stuff taking up space. Space I could be using for more preschooler and kid stuff...groan. Then I discovered Freepeats and my frustration came to an end. This is a website that speaks to my inner green cheapskate because it's all about sharing what your little ones don't use anymore and getting things they do need. Angie Wynne, founder of the popular frugal parenting website, Baby Cheapskate, recently announced the expansion of Freepeats.org. This online forum allows parents to pass on gently-used baby, kid, and maternity items they've finished with and pick up similar items for free from other nearby parents.

Freepeats groups are up and running in 47 major U.S. cities with dozens more openings planned for 2009. I was happy to see that a major city close to my little town was represented. There are over 17,500 members now registered at Freepeats. Offerings have included bouncers, swings, cribs, infant formula, baby and toddler clothing, zoo tickets, diapers, strollers, high chairs, baby gyms, parenting books, toys, and more. It took little convincing that this was worth the minuscule one time membership of $4.95 for me to have the opportunity to acquire items I would have paid, over my kids' lifetime, thousands of dollars. Plus, I love finding a good home for my children's clothes, toys and equipment. I would rather give it to someone in need than get a few dollars for it at a yard sale or consignment shop where I have had to put in so much energy for so little.

Freepeats is growing by leaps and bounds. The site has been featured at Discovery.com's Planet Green website, Apartment Therapy.com, Nickelodeon's Parents Connect website, Green Deals Daily, and in the pages of Readers Digest, Parenting magazine, and several local publications. Here's your chance to participate to in a green movement that connects you to other families and if needed, provides you with things you need for your growing family plus let's you give back to other's all with a simple click.

Win it!

So how does this sound to you? Are you curious? Well, Freepeats would love to have you as a member and so would I if you live in my area (wink, wink). They have generously donated ten, yes, I said ten, free lifetime memberships. If this kind of eco-friendly and economic-friendly forum appeals to you then go to Freepeats and see if there is a group close to where you live. To get a chance to win one of ten lifetime memberships leave a comment by midnight est March 15, 2009 with the following info:

• The Freepeats group you'd like to join.
• One item you'd giveaway
• An e-mail where we can reach you if you win

For more chances to win choose one of the following ways to earn an extra entry or combine all three to get three extra entries!
(each extra entry needs a comment and way to contact you)

1. Follow my blog or subscribe to it
2. Twitter about it and follow me on Twitter.
   
3. Mention this giveaway on your blog with a link back here and to Freepeat. If you are not a blogger, forward this post to 2 of your friends and cc us on the email (laterbetty[@]gmail[dot]com)
   

A random winner will be selected on March 16, 2009 and notified by e-mail. Good luck!

Asheville Vacation

Dreaming about a getaway but short on cash? Do you love Asheville, North Carolina and all it has to offer? Well, there is a way to possibly make your dreams come true. One of my favorite Hoosier Mommy Bloggers, Bargain Briana, is having a giveaway that could turn your dream into a reality. The giveaway includes a "Go Blue Ridge Card". It is like an admission ticket for multiple venues. For one low price you get to see top attractions like:
* Biltmore Estates
* Whitewater Rafting
* Smoky Mountain Jet Boats
* Grandfather Mountain
* Chimney Rock Park
* Linville Caverns
* Tweetsie Railroad
* Gray Line Trolley Tours of Asheville
* Wine Tasting

The Blue Ridge card also comes with a FREE full color guidebook, VIP savings on shopping & dining. You can purchase 2, 3, or 5 day passes depending on how long you are visiting. To enter to win a Blue Ridge Card and a piece of Appalachian pottery from the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau go to the website, Explore Asheville and sign up for their newsletter and leave a comment back at Bargain Briana about what you'd like to do most while you are in Asheville. See you in Asheville!

See Kai Run

I have always loved the name Kai but since my little peanut is as Irish as the day is long we decided to love the shoe company, See Kai Run. They describe themselves as urban footwear for first steps. They bring hip back to the baby...and the toddler...and the little kid! But not only are they fashion forward they are functional too. Creating a shoe that promotes healthy development for those cute little feet is just as important as how freakin' cute these shoes are. A healthy fit, quality construction, and an urban style are their hallmarks. And you, my dear readers, are in luck because the blog, Blondes, Poop and Mascara is having a giveaway. You could win a pair of shoes from the Smaller line or the See Kai Run line just by checking out See Kai Run's website and the fabulous shoes they offer. After you've wiped the drool off your chin, head back to Blondes, Poop and Mascara, leave a comment (be sure to follow the rules), and that's it...you're done!

We have a Winner!

I have to tell you! I'm feeling lucky. I've won two contests in the past three weeks. Now, I know what you're thinking...luck has nothing to do with it. And you know what? You're right. Yes, you heard me, you are right. It wasn't luck but literacy that brought me two wonderful giveaways. I read. I read fabulous blogs by women who are fabulous writers. Some of these women are introducing me to products, websites, and many other wonderful things that I never knew existed before now. And I love it. And here's the thing...I'm sure the companies, artists, webmasters etc are loving it too because it is a great way to market in a very personal way. Plus it reaches an amazing amount of readers.

So I'm sure you are dying to know what I've won. Even if you aren't, I'm going to tell you, so there! I won $25 from the blog, Jolly Mom. She was reviewing Buzzillions,a customer review site that collects reviews from actual product purchasers. I looked over the website, commented on it back at Jolly Mom and was randomly chosen to win the twenty-five bucks! It was that easy.

The other giveaway I won was from the blog, Three Prince Designs. As some of you know, one of my "past-times" is designing and sewing children's clothes. Miss Monkey Mae has to be outfitted beautifully. Having champagne taste and beer money caused me to reacquaint myself with sewing. Thus I follow blogs that focus on sewing and children's clothing design. Three Prince Designs reviewed the site, You Can Make This. This is a fabulous site if you long to sew but are intimidated by patterns. Well, I won a bundle of E-Patterns just for signing up for their news letter and coming back to Three Prince Designs Blog and commenting about it. Something I would have done anyway. Who says reading doesn't pay off?

PBS KIDS Island

Covert learning, I find, is always more effective for my reluctant reader than the obvious, "let's sit down and read a book" kind of learning. The effectiveness grows if there is the possibility of winning something...even a virtual "something". PBS KIDS Island offers free reading games and activities for children ages 2-5 years but I have found my 8 year old reluctant reader actively using it along with my 3 year old. New features will soon be added, including a Word of the Day and games for older children (ages 6-8). Until then, my little man seems to be satisfied in "helping" his little sister win lots of tickets. PBS KIDS Island gives children the tools to create an online island carnival one ride at a time by playing reading games with PBS KIDS® characters. There are eight different literacy-building levels:

• phonological awareness,
  
• letter recognition,
  
• letter sequencing,
  
• phonemic awareness,
  
• word families,
  
• phonics-decoding,
  
• text comprehension
  
• vocabulary

It isn’t easy for anyone to make sense of all this new information, parents or kids. But reading doesn’t – and shouldn’t – have to be an frightening process that turns off all but the most gifted students. With PBS KIDS Island, children are introduced to new skills in a playful, silly way, allowing them to learn at their own pace and remain interested. Hey, uh, that's how I like to learn too! Everything from the alphabet to phonemes can be fun. Honest. The 32 games hit on these different skills, each an important piece to reading successfully. As your child plays the games she is learning these skills in order of literacy development. As her skills develop she is given the opportunity to build more rides on the Island while secretly (shhh, don't tell them they're learning) gaining the skills she needs to become a great reader.

The games are fun in-and-of themselves, but a ticket and prize reward system is included to encourage kids to achieve even more. Kids earn tickets by completing games (multiple tickets for the first completion and one for each completion of the same game thereafter) and can trade in their tickets for prizes like virtual toys and coloring pages you can print. The prizes live in each kid's customizable treehouse, another feature to help children feel like their PBS KIDS Island is theirs.

But the best part is that parents can be a part of the child’s learning process, since all child accounts are in the adult's account. The site requires an email account and multiple kids can play under one email address. As the account holder, I can track my kids progress and do reading activities with them related to what they are learning on the Island. Oh, and did I mention that it’s free? Yeah, now that's my kind of bargain. And I don't even have to leave my house to buy some expensive reading program to help my kids learn to read; just the click of the mouse and I get one more notch on my super mommy belt.

Now, I'd like to hear from you! How do you make reading fun for your kids? What online resources do you use, if any? If you’ve used PBS KIDS Island, what did you – and your kids – think? Happy Reading!

What does you Love Bottle say?

One of my favorite product review blogs, Frugal Mommy of 2 Girls, is hosting a giveaway that is eco-friendly plus full of style and creativity. The company, Love Bottle, has a fantastic water bottle that you can personalize in so many ways! How do I count the ways...

• Write directly on your bottle and express yourself!
• Place silicon bands around the bottle to add color and words, and to improve grip.
• You can choose stickers with a preprinted design or blank stickers that you can design yourself!
• Start with a blank bottle, or a bottle with a printed design and design your own.

Putting style aside, these fantastic bottles are great for the environment and for your health. Avoiding using throwaway water bottles is one way of many we can contribute to taking care of our Mother Earth. Drinking water from a glass bottle ensures there are no harmful chemicals entering your body as you refuel yourself. The plus is you look fantastically hip while taking care of yourself!

So click now! Check out Love Bottle's website and become a hip healthy tree huggin' water drinker!

Do you Cadoo?

My little guy recently celebrated his eighth birthday. He received lots of wonderful presents but one we've been addicted to is a great family game, Cranium's Cadoo. We've discovered that game playing is a great way to get an eight year old reluctant reader reading! Cadoo encourages reading in a fun filled way. Using their deluxe decoder goggles players get to read hidden answers which only they can read. Thus our reluctant reader has to sound out words on his own and refuses help! Who knew it would be Hasbro that would get our son interested in reading! It was the best use of our money yet!

Not only is it helping his reading but this game actively uses both the left and right hemispheres of the brain. This encourages kids of all ages (parents included) to develop not only analytical skills but creative skills as well, helping to create well rounded individuals. My son, the perfectionist, is usually not willing to try new things unless he can master it right away. However, with this game he was willing to take the chance in sculpting an object with clay just to win. So what we've discovered as parents is that Cranium games use competition in a positive way. My son's desire to win the game trumped his need to be perfect. This gave him the opportunity to try new things and discover hidden talents, all in a twenty minute game (and as parents we all know that's an ENORMOUS bonus!). Thanks Cranium!!

We'll definitely be investing in more Cranium games. The value it brings to our children is worth the cost plus we have a great time as a family. I'd love to hear what games you have found to be of value to your children. I'm always on the lookout for creative ways to encourage our children's abilities.

It All Started When...

I have always been curious, creative and entrepreneurial from an early age. My curiosity about how things worked and finding creative uses for them came from my father who could fix about anything and was very thrifty to boot. Fast forward to the 21st century and you have a woman who is willing to think outside the box to create the home and life she desires on a limited budget. I am a married to a renaissance man and we have two wonderful kids, an eight year old boy with the energy of about three boys and a three year old girl with an amazing imagination that seems vaguely familiar. If you want to see how we live our lives in a little southern town, check out our family blog, I'll Tell You Later Betty.

In writing my personal blog I discovered a community of mothers who do amazing work using their talents in the blogosphere. Having moved to our little house in the little town I had become a SAHM with untapped time and a lot of creativity. I decided it was time to try my hand at product review to see what it could turn into.

So welcome to my product review blog. I expect you'll be able to observe my learning curve as this blog grows. Just think, you'll be able to say, "I knew her when..."!

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