Mother and daughter are sitting on the back steps. Daughter is crying while mom has her arm around her, gently rubbing her back. Thinking of what may possibly console her daughter, the mom stares out at the trees lining the backyard.

Mom leans into daughter, kisses her head, and says, “Boys suck.”

Daughter resolutely replies through her tears, “Yes, they do.”

A Mother-Daughter Moment is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

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This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of UPromise for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Upromise is celebrating its 10th Anniversary by giving away $20,000 to users who share a story that tells how a parent has supported a child’s dream!

As a parent, I have encouraged my children to dream and dream big. Education was always a focal point of those dreams, even if the money was not always there.

Upromise members have received more than $600 million in college savings through their rewards program, and it wants to celebrate all of the ways it has helped to fuel those sparks that made children into the people they are today and the adults they will become tomorrow.

My Story

My dream is for my children to pursue their passion by getting a good educational foundation to prepare them for the rest of their lives. By encouraging them to do well throughout their elementary school years, I have helped build a foundation for them to grow into productive and happy people.

Your Story

What is your dream for your child(ren)? Go to www.upromisetodream.com and share your story and you could be one of 10 lucky winners of $1,000. The story with the most votes on September 29th will win $10,000! Now that’s something to help launch your child’s dream.

Don’t forget to check out the dream wall official rules for more information.

Help UPromise Celebrate Its 10th Anniversary is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

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Last summer Stephen decided to walk to the store and get something to drink. Now we have two choices, one store is about half a mile to the west, while the second store is about five miles to the east. Stephen opted to the latter. Needless to say, this led to him walking in very high grass along the side of the road and him losing his glasses. His only pair of glasses.

After that incident, and advising him to go to the closer store the next time he wanted a soda (we do have something to drink in our house,  just not a lot of soda-type beverages), I wanted to get him a spare pair of glasses.

The process is simple… go to justeyewear.com, find the frames you love, enter your prescription info (including your pupillary distance [PD] – ask your eye doctor for this, or you can measure it yourself if need be), and then order!

If you’ve never ordered glasses online before, it is strongly suggested you start your search by reading the “Guide to Buying Glasses Online“. It explains the basic process of ordering prescription glasses online.

Glasses starting at $7.95

The entire process from ordering to arrival took about 4 – 6 weeks. I even received an email wanting to confirm some of the information given just so they were certain I did not make a mistake when ordering.

The glasses arrived well packaged and Stephen said the prescription lenses were good for him. He even said I did a good job picking out the frames. Score one for mom!

Next Time You Need a New Pair of Glasses, Think Just Eyewear

• Over 900 different styles to choose from.
• Big plastic frames, flex titanium, progressive lenses, Transitions, etc.
• Top notch quality.
• Made in the United States.

____________
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Just Eyewear, Top Notch Eyewear on the Web is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

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Sponsored by Tomoson.com

Sand Gone is a dry body powder that when applied to sandy parts of your body removes the sand leaving your skin soft and smooth.  A must for beachgoers.  Works great after children after playing in the sand box. All natural ingredients smells like coconut.

How it Works

After a fun day at the beach or playing in the sandbox (thinking children here, but adults can play in sandboxes, too) the first things you want to do is get all of the itchy sand off of you. Sure, you can use those showers at the beach or hose off in some fashion, but it never seems to work all that well.

Sand Gone is a powder that removes sand from your skin leaving you feeling smooth, smelling great, and sand free!

Does it really remove the sand? Yes, yes it does.

Does it really smell great? Oh yes, most definitely. (caveat: if you don’t like the smell of coconut, then you will not think it smells great.)

Does it really leave your skin feeling smooth? Yes, but a little powdery, too. The sand is completely gone and the powder residue is easily smoothed away.

Sand Gone has a powder puff applicator that allows you to apply the powder to your skin, gently and easily removing the sand and leaving just you. I will be using this on my next beach outing.

After years of cleaning sandy children, I discovered a little trick to remove sand without using water. After a few more years of improving the ingrediants, I perfected an all natural, non-toxic powder.

- Tiffany Smith, founder of Sand Gone

Price Point – $12.95 plus shipping for an 8 oz container.

Win an 8 oz container of Sand Gone

Giveaway Rules:

Mandatory entry:

Like Sand Gone on Facebook.
or
Follow @SandGone on Twitter.

do both for 2 entries

Please complete the form below to enter this giveaway.

Giveaway will end on February 25, 2011 at Midnight EST and is open to residents of the U.S., 18 years of age or older. Winner will be selected using Random.org. Winner will be notified via email. Additionally, I will post the winner’s name on my site in a separate post on or around February 26, 2011. Winner will have 48 hours from the time the email is sent to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck!

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Disclosure: All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. I would not tell you something was wonderful if I did not truly believe it so. Please read my Disclosure Policy for more information. I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Love the Beach, but Hate Taking it Home with You? – Sand Gone (review & giveaway) {closed} is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

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Sponsored by Tomoson.com

Oh sure, you’re wondering why I would be doing a review of crayons when my children are all teenagers. Well, Megan may be 19 years old AND she may be a Junior in college AND she may not be your typical crayon aficionado… what was I talking about again?

Megan is very creative. Crayons are just up her alley, so when I was given the opportunity to review these crayons by Gaddy Nipper I knew just whose name I would use.

M is for Monkey

E is for Elephant

G is for Glass

A is for Apple

N is for Notes (as in musical notes)

Gaddy Nipper Crayons are recycled from quality Crayola crayon stock. Gaddy Nipper Crayons started in 2008, by Nichole Hertz, as an internet based company recycling old crayons into new works of art for both children and adults to enjoy. They have grown to include upcycling crayons as well as recycling old crayons turning them into fun shapes for birthdays, graduations, weddings, holidays, and anything else you can imagine.

I absolutely adored these crayons as did Megan. Sturdy enough for small hands, but pretty enough for gift giving. You have the option of purchasing these crayons in one color per letter or in a swirl of colors per letter. I opted for single color letters since the images seemed more vibrant to me.

Unfortunately Megan and I failed to put these crayons in safe place and during the holidays Ivy (bad dog!) ate them. Yep, a few days later there were pretty colors in the yard. {sigh} So I will be purchasing more for Megan. We were both quite upset over this. I am sure these would last much longer than ours did [just keep them out of reach of small-ish animals].

Win a Gaddy Nipper Crayons: Your Name in Crayons (up to 10 letters) solid or swirled

Giveaway Rules:

Mandatory entry:

Go to Gaddy Nipper Crayons’ Etsy Page and tell me something else you would like.

Additional entries:

Follow @gaddynipper on Twitter
OR
Like Gaddy Nipper on Facebook

do both for 2 entries

Please complete the form below to enter this giveaway.

If you have problems with the form, please send me an email with your information [be sure to include Gaddy Nipper Giveaway in your email] and I will manually add your information to the form according to the time stamp on the email.

Giveaway will end on January 14, 2011 at Midnight EST and is open to residents of the U.S., 18 years of age or older. Winner will be selected using Random.org. Winner will be notified via email. Additionally, I will post the winner’s name on my site in a separate post on January 15, 2011. Winner will have 48 hours from the time the email is sent to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck!

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Disclosure. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. Please read my Disclosure Policy for more information.
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com and the Tomoson weekly featured sponsor Favorite Wigs – Shop Name Brand Wigs at Low Prices! Large Wig Selection of Forever Young Wigs, and other Quality Wigs. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Your Child’s Name in… Crayons!, a review and giveaway {closed} is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

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Parents of little ones are going to love this…

If you have babies, toddlers, or young children, especially if you have more than one, at some point you will have a need to label something: bottles, cups, clothes, shoes.

I know with having 3 kids fairly close in age it can get tricky trying to remember who was using what cup. Actually, now that my girls are older and we share clothes we sometimes have trouble remember whose is what. But for kids going to daycare or preschool or even off to summer camp (well, in the summer of course) you want to be able to label their clothes without ruining them, but without worrying about the label falling off.

Applied Labels to the rescue!

Applied Labels (TM) are Applied Labels LLC’s flagship and most popular product.  They’re extremely tough, ultra versatile and perfect for labeling:

• bottles
• sippy cups
• shoes
• school supplies
• gadgets
• summer camp gear
• all those little things that go to early childcare centers

Our labels are available with and without icons or with a second line of custom print.

To label clothing, sandwich an Applied Label (TM) with one of our blank backers. For shoes, stick on a Shoe Shield (TM) that will keep labels in place all year long.

Follow @appliedlabels on Twitter
Like Applied Labels on Facebook, too

**********
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Review: Applied Labels Dishwasher & Laundry Safe Labels for Kids & Baby is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

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Sponsored by Tomoson.com

I remember Christmas being a very magical time of year.

Every year we would travel from our home in South Jersey to my grandparent’s in North Jersey for Christmas Eve with my mom’s family. All the cousins would be there and my aunts and uncles, too.

Sometime after dinner we would start to get a bit antsy about all the presents we knew were hidden under the blanket on my grandparent’s bed. Soon someone would say they spotted Santa out on the sidewalk below. All of us kids would rush to the window and spy Santa ringing his bell and saying “ho, ho, ho”.

I was never sure about Santa; he kind of scared me.

Nevertheless, I would eagerly await his arrival upstairs. One by one we would sit on Santa’s lap and tell him we had been very good boys and girls that year. He would then reach into his sack and pull out our present (unwrapped). Every year I got bubble bath in a pink bottle.

Amanda’s magical memory is a bit different.

Amanda tells me how she no longer believed in Santa Claus until one year a letter arrived. Actually, it was three letters, one for Megan, one for Amanda, and one for Stephen. These letters arrived in fancy envelopes with pretty handwriting and glitter. They were from the North Pole, but they were not from Santa. These letters were from Rudolph!

See, Rudolph had chosen 100 especially well-behaved children to receive a very special Rudolph present, a second letter would be arriving in a few days if they were one of those 100, so they were to be extra good.

The kids were so excited trying to figure out what they would be getting from Rudolph. They minded themselves and each other cause they really wanted this extra special present, whatever it may be.

The second letters arrived and they were chosen to receive a Rudolph present. The excitement for Christmas was building even more at the thought of what it could be. Christmas morning came and still no present. After visiting with my family we returned home to find a large box waiting in the living room. The kids were so excited. They all ran to see what it was.

It was years before I would learn it was actually one of my aunts dressed up like Santa Claus every year. And it would be some time before my kids would learn the true identity of Rudolph – their Aunt Tracey. Oh, and what was their extra special Rudolph present? A 13″ color TV with VCR.

iCaughtSanta.com brings the magic back to Christmas.

What a wonderful and simple idea! Just upload any photo (your living room, outside, your roof, etc), then pick one of 20 different Santa poses and it looks like you just ‘caught’ Santa. The proof is in the picture and your kids will love it!

Check it out – iCaughtSanta taking a cat nap on my Jeep!

The hardest part about the whole process was choosing how I would catch Santa.

• Upload your image.
• Choose your Santa pose.
• Choose a background (or not).
• Process.

Print from your computer or Print to Store with Walgreens (or even Print on Products with MyAlbumPics.com).

Now imagine the thrill your child will get waking up on Christmas morning and seeing a picture of Santa next to that empty plate of cookies. Magical.

Price Point: $9.99 per image or $19.99 for 3.
Save 25% now with the code ANNEONLIFE

Oh, and you can even catch the Easter Bunny, Cupid, and the Tooth Fairy! Free Codes have no expiration date. Search: iCaughtSanta in the iPhone app store to catch Santa anywhere.

For more information check out http://www.tinyurl.com/santa2010 & http://www.catchacharacter.com/media/.

Win Your Own iCaughtSanta Image (5 Winners)

Giveaway Rules:

Mandatory entry:

Like Catch A Character on Facebook
OR
Follow @CatchACharacter on Twitter

do both for 2 entries

Please complete the form below to enter this giveaway.

If you have problems with the form, please send me an email with your information [be sure to include iCaughtSanta Giveaway in your email] and I will manually add your information to the form according to the time stamp on the email.

Giveaway will end on December 20, 2010 at Midnight EST and is open to residents of Canada & the U.S., 18 years of age or older. Winner will be selected using Random.org. Winner will be notified via email. Additionally, I will post the winner’s name on my site in a separate post on December 21, 2010. Winner will have 48 hours from the time the email is sent to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck!

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀
Disclosure. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. Please read my Disclosure Policy for more information.
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

iCaughtSanta.com Brings Back the Magic of the Holiday (giveaway) 5 Winners {closed} is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

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Sponsored by Tomoson.com

Did you know that the common cold is one of the top reasons that children miss school? Statistics show that nearly 22 million school days are lost annually due to the common cold alone. The stress of these missed school days, combined with a family’s hectic schedule, is enough to drive Mom, Dad and child crazy. When those first signs of a cold appear, Boiron’s Children’s Coldcalm® Pellets can help keep your kids in school and peace in the household.

Children’s Coldcalm Pellets offer complete multi-symptom cold relief for sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, and minor sore throat pain. Its kid-friendly, melt-away pellets are safe for children 3 years of age and older, and no water, chewing or swallowing is required. Children’s Coldcalm works safely and naturally without causing drowsiness or sleeplessness. There’s also no risk of overdose, and no interaction with other medications. More information can be found by visiting our website.

Homeopathy is nothing new.

Throughout history civilization relied on homeopathic medicine to alleviate pain, illness, and for preventative measures. As time went on we became more industrialized. This is not to say one method is better than another or to invalidate conventional medicine (please check with your doctor as I am not a medical professional). But I personally believe in taken the least amount of medicine in the lowest dosage possible. Really, I still take children’s aspirin and such for headaches and ailments whenever possible. This just works for me.

Right now I don’t have a cold nor do any of my children. So, I can’t tell you if Children’s Coldcalm works at preventing or lessening your time with a cold. I can tell you that it tastes good. This is important as you are supposed to put the pellets on your tongue and let them dissolve (no chewing) and they take a few minutes to dissolve.

Ask your doctor before giving Children’s Coldcalm to any child under 3 years of age. A child that age [most likely] will not have the patience to wait for the pellets to dissolve and this may pose a choking hazard.

Directions: At the onset of cold symptoms, take 5 pellets every 20 minutes for 1 hour. Then take 5 pellets every 2 hours until symptoms are relieved. (definitely takes commitment)

Oh, and don’t let the name fool you, adults can use Children’s Coldcalm, too!

Price Point: $7.92 – 12.09 depending on where you buy (currently available at Amazon.com for $9.90 + shipping)

Also available at select online and mail order establishments. (in my search I was able to find this at Target as well, but that is not listed on Boiron USA’s site)

Save $1 on your purchase.

Win a Package of Children’s Coldcalm

Giveaway Rules:

Mandatory entry:

Go to Boiron USA’s site and tell me something your learned about Children’s Coldcalm, Boiron USA, or any of their other products.

Please complete the form below to enter this giveaway.

If you have problems with the form, please send me an email with your information [be sure to include Children's Coldcalm Giveaway in your email] and I will manually add your information to the form according to the time stamp on the email.

Giveaway will end on December 18, 2010 at Midnight EST and is open to U.S. residents, 18 years of age or older. Winner will be selected using Random.org. Winner will be notified via email. Additionally, I will post the winner’s name on my site in a separate post on December 19, 2010. Winner will have 48 hours from the time the email is sent to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Good Luck!

❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀❀
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. Please read my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Review & Giveaway: Children’s Coldcalm {closed} is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

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____________________________________

____________________________________

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At least we communicate, sort of.

Of course, what Ivy really wanted was a) a treat, b) to get up on the couch, or c) both a & b.

Family Life: Texting, It’s Coming From Inside the House is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

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I am really excited to bring you this review.

So excited, in fact, that I have thought of three different openings and takes. My imagination has really taken flight with this.

Which brings me to my latest thought… Survivor

Sure, you’re asking ‘what does Survivor have to do with paper dolls?’ Good question. Let me explain.

Last night as I was watching the immunity challenge on Survivor I commented to Dwayne on Jane’s (the oldest woman competing) ability to maintain in an endurance challenge. Sure, physically she is tough. But it’s the mental toughness that gets the job done. I cannot say for sure that this is how Jane handles these situations, but this is how I get through situations where I have to maintain physically – imagination.

Using enough of my concentration to maintain a pose, like the plank in yoga, while putting myself somewhere else to take my mind off of the difficulty of the task at hand is all in the imagination.

See where I am going with this? Clear as mud, right?

As a child I spent many hours playing with my Little People and Barbie Dolls (not at the same time); don’t forget all my stuffed animals and baby dolls. In doing so I was constantly stretching and working my imagination. I even remember playing with paper dolls. They would come in books similar to coloring books and I would have to punch them out, careful now, using the flaps to keep them in place.

Now I get to relive those wonderful days
filled with stories only I could dream up.

Creating characters, situations, new places.

And there’s even a holiday theme…

Dresses and stockings, mittens and boots. And the best gift of all: imaginative exploration.

This Christmas Printable Paper Dolls Set is a super-cute throwback to holiday seasons past!

Python Printable Games has created a 14-page PDF for your kids to enjoy. Seven pages are black and white, so they can color in their dolls before they dress them; the other seven pages are pre-colored, so if there’s less time, or no coloring materials available, they can simply cut out and play with the color version.

At only $6.95 this would make a great stocking stuffer gift.

I love the idea of low tech for the holidays.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

Review: Low Tech Gifts for the Holiday Season – Paper Dolls is a post from: AnneOnLife where life happens quite regularly. If you liked that, you'll love me on and .
© AnneOnLife 2008-2010

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