Looking for Talented Writers

September 12th, 2008


Update: Thank you to everyone who has emailed me. I have received sixteen responses and I think that is all I can handle right now. I will let you guys know when we need more writers for the Family section and will open it up again! Thank you for your enormous response!

I feel very blessed to be part of the new Blissfully Domestic website. If it has been awhile since you visited, you should swing by there and see the great new design, writers, and editors that are making this a hot spot for women to learn and share.

I am the Editor for the Family Channel where we cover everything from parenting, family, empty nesters, grandparents, new parents, working parents, love & marriage and everything in between. We currently have 28 gifted writers who are contributing to my channel alone and I would love to expand our team further.

If you are interested in writing, please email me at amy@momadvice.com and let me know! With our booming team, you can commit to once a month or once a week. Of course, the more often you commit, the more often you will be seen and be able to direct traffic back to your own site. Our goal is to promote bloggers and help you grow your website!

Please let me know and I look forward to hearing from those of you that are interested!

Posted in Announcements | 6 Comments »

Freebie Friday: September 12, 2008

September 11th, 2008

A big thank you to Heather, from Freebies 4 Mom, for helping to contribute to our list. If you don’t want to wait all week for your samples, be sure to visit her blog regularly for your weekly freebie scoop! Heather’s blog is always hopping with the latest freebies, coupons, and scoops on current sweepstake offers & giveaways.

Happy Freebie Friday!

Health & Beauty

Huggies Diapers (Walmart sample)
Deseo (fragrance for him)
Carefree
Poise (Costco sample)
Kotex LightDays Pantiliners (Costco)
10 day supply Estee Lauder Foundation (scroll to the bottom for the coupon)

Entertainment

Organic Valley Kids Activity Flyer
Parents Magazine 2 Year Subscription (ValueMags)
Electronic Gaming Monthly
PC Magazine Subscription
Gooseberry Patch Fall Favorites Cookbook

Mark Your Calendars

September – Walgreens Take Care Health Tour
September 13 – Lowe’s Kids – Make a pirate ship
September 13 – Thomas & Friends Playdate @ ToysRUs
September 18 – Smoothie King Coffee Smoothie before 10:30 am
September 20 – Carvel Customer Appreciation Day – free ice cream 12 to 5
September 20 – Doll crafts @ Michaels
September 25 – Coldstone Creamery Ice Cream Social (donations benefit Make-a-Wish)

September 27 – National Museum Day
September 27 – Geoffrey’s Birthday @ ToysRUs
September 27 – Lowe’s Kids – Make a fire truck
October 4 – Home Depot Kids (make a whistle fire truck 9 am to noon)

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We are offering two exciting giveaways on our blog- don’t forget to put in your entry!

This week, I provided a list of 35 Ways to Save on Your Grocery Budget that I hope will be really helpful for families. I want to add a #36 though that I know would make your day… how about free toilet paper and paper towels for an entire year from Scott’s? Head over right now and put in your entry at The MotherLoot today. Please do not enter here, only entries over here will qualify. The contest is open until Tuesday night and then I will draw our winner!

And our brand new giveaway has just begun! Enter today to win a 10th Anniversary Harry Potter prize pack. We are giving away beautiful boxed sets of the Harry Potter series and the new anniversary editions of, “Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone” Please do not enter here, only entries over here will qualify. The contest is open until October 13th and then I will draw our winner! The contest is open until Tuesday night and then I will draw our winners!

Good luck, everyone!

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Posted in Freebies | 3 Comments »

Amy’s Notebook 09.11.08

September 11th, 2008

Did you miss my notebook last week? Please say yes! Here she is back in her full glory again, with a fresh new set of linky loving for my sweet blogging friends!

Remember anything that you like out of the notebook can be added to our notebook experiments section each Thursday! Happy reading!

These homemade peanut butter cups look delicious (@ Have Cake, Will Travel)

I love these necktie glasses cases (@ Craftzine)

This chocolate mint icebox cake looks like it is to die for (@ Divine Domesticity)

I am loving this newspaper bunting (@ maya made)

I had never heard of this site where you could find local yarn shops (@ Craftzine)

I love this rug made out of a tea towel (@ knick knacks & ric rac)

I want to give this pumpkin spice latte recipe a try (@ Baking & Books)

I really love this little cupcake stand (@ Once Wed)

I am loving these felted rocks (@ resurrection fern)

I am always up for trying another banana bread recipe (@ Posie Gets Cozy)

I have wanted to know how to recycle yarn from sweaters and this post helped so much (@ Craft Leftovers)

I like these tips for seasoning your cast iron skillet (@ Joy the Baker)

I am going to have to keep my eyes peeled for a funnel pitcher for our house (@ Baking Bites)

This chocolate chunk coffee cake looks amazing (@ Genesis of a Cook)

These brownies in a mug might be a fun dessert when we are entertaining (@ A Year of Crockpotting)

I want to try tie dying shirts with the kids one day (@ Motherhood for Dummies)

I loved this post on what is an appropriate food budget for a family of four (@ The Simple Dollar)

I love these little princess crowns and I know my daughter would too (@ The Homespun Heart)

I will now know what to do with the wooden boxes from the Melissa & Doug toys that the kids get for Christmas (@ Parent Hacks)

I love this dinosaur feet craft (@ Problem Solvin’ Mom)

I have never tried cooking my rice this way, but I just might have to give this a shot (@ The Kitchn)

I love these fabric & button barrettes (@ belle & burger)

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Posted in Amy's Notebook | 15 Comments »

Notebook Experiments: Can We Survive a Money-Free Weekend?

September 11th, 2008


Experiment: Can our family survive a money-free weekend?

Experiment Taken From: Notebook Entry 07.24.08

Materials Needed: Please see The Simple Dollar for the full instructions on ideas for completing this task. Since it is a money-free weekend, you can bet that all those materials need to be free and laying around your house.

Results: I will admit it, we have the most trouble with our spending on the weekends. All of the leisurely free time just makes me think of all the things that I could be buying. It really doesn’t help that we live off the main drag for shopping either!

For this experiment though, we made a commitment to have a money-free weekend. I had withdrawn our grocery money earlier in the week though for our grocery shopping, but that is where our spending ended.

What did we do on our no spend weekend? Well, we played board games in the evenings and caught up on our favorite shows. I spent some time working on knitting some washcloths for my grandma’s birthday. I cleaned out my closet and took a load of stuff over to Goodwill to make a donation. But our favorite no spend idea that we did… well, maybe our kid’s clothing choices might help you guess!


No, we didn’t get to see a free game, but my husband’s work throws an amazing tailgate and we thought this would be the perfect way to celebrate not spending that weekend.

And you know what is free at those events. Yup, tons of free food! My kids gorged themselves on a plethora of sugary treats and salty snacks. We all ate until we were in food comas and then swung by to see the local radio station all set up and distributing stickers and football necklaces for a special little treat for the kids. We threw our name in a raffle and chatted for a bit at their table. We watched all of the craziness that ensues for Notre Dame games and just drank in all the fresh air and sunshine.

“How convenient,” I exclaimed to my husband, as we walked over to our car! “We just so happened to have parked right next to the Starbuck’s. Momma could go for some delicious coffee.” My husband just grinned at me and kindly replied, “Oh wait! Didn’t you say we were having a NO SPEND weekend? Awww, too bad!”

I think one of us took this no spend thing a little too seriously!

Conclusion: I really loved having a money-free weekend and I plan to do this more regularly in our house. Thanks to Trent, at The Simple Dollar, for encouraging families to save instead of spend!
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I am so excited to open our Notebook Experiments up to everyone and I hope that you will be able to participate this week or in weeks to come! I will be posting this each Thursday so please mark your calendars if you plan to participate. You can post your entries at any time throughout the week and then leave your entry in the links below.

We have this handy banner that you are more than welcome to use, but it is not a requirement! It is just something you can add to add a little sparkle to your entry.

Rules for Participation:

1. Choose anything from any of our notebook entries (past or present) to do with your family. We have hundreds of bookmarked links of crafts, ways to save money, and organizing ideas.
2. Complete an experiment from the notebook and share about it on your blog or website. We would love to see pictures of what you accomplished or a detailed description of how your projects turned out. Please include a link to this entry, a link to the original posting of the entry (at the original crafster’s blog), and (to help us relocate the project) the date or link of the notebook entry where you found it. You can use the same formatting as our entries or you can just include that information in your post in your own unique way!
3. Post a link below. Please include your name or blog name & a fast description of your project. Example- MomAdvice (WHO bread)

I can’t wait to see what you create and what you find inspiring!

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Posted in Money & Finance | 3 Comments »

Finding Deals on Eye & Vision Care

September 10th, 2008

Piggybacking on our discussion on going without vision and dental coverage, I got the opportunity to share with WSBT some ways that families can save on their eye coverage. I researched contact lense prices, discount programs that you can take advantage of, and where you can score an inexpensive eye exam.

Our family is currently going without optical and dental insurance and my daughter managed to break my only pair of glasses. I was overdue for an eye exam and was on my last pair of contact lenses. I drove around from place to place in town and decided that Sam’s Club would be the best place for me. The selection fit my needs, the eye exam was inexpensive ($35 for my son, $55 for myself for contact & glasses fittings) and they had designer frames for between $65-90.

Although there are cheaper places on the internet to buy glasses, I really wanted to be able to try my glasses on and get them properly fitted to my face. There is something to be said for feeling confident in what you are wearing and if I would have bought them online, they would have not fit me as well.

I am planning to put this information into an article for reference on our site. Thank you all for your feedback please feel free to discuss where you have found the best deals on optical care!

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Posted in Frugal, Money & Finance | 6 Comments »

Free 2 Year Subscription to Parent’s Magazine

September 10th, 2008


I doubt this offer will last long. Head over to ValueMags and pick up a 2 year subscription to Parent’s Magazine for free!

Your subscription should start within six to eight weeks!

Enjoy!

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Posted in Frugal, Money & Finance | 2 Comments »

Me On You Tube: Save Money With a Baking Day

September 10th, 2008

Emily & I decided to have a chat with you in our pajamas while preparing for our day of baking. Setting aside one day out of the week to work on baking and the prep work for mealtime can be really beneficial towards staying on track with your budget. You can read more of my tips for a successful baking day and I hope you will be able to watch the video for more ideas to help make your baking day go really smoothly.

Sound Off: What steps do you do to make your cooking go smoothly for the week?

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Posted in Announcements, Frugal, Money & Finance | 4 Comments »

Play it Again, Momma: Pumpkin Spice Lattes

September 10th, 2008

With the Pumpkin Spice Latte season upon me, I thought it would be great to bring this little entry back for your viewing pleasure! After all, I can’t be the only one with a Pumpkin Spice Latte addiction!

My absolute favorite drink at Starbucks is their Pumpkin Spice Latte. Each year, I look forward to them adding this onto their menu and this year was no exception. Unfortunately, my wallet can’t handle the frequent trips to get coffee so I have had to get creative this year.

My girlfriend, Christina, had this amazing little gadget called the Cocomotion. If you haven’t seen one of these, check it out and put it on your Christmas list. I decided to go with the Back to Basics Cocoa-Latte Maker (similar, but it has a dispenser to dispense the drink) and I have yet to be disappointed with it. It is so nice because it stirs and heats everything up, just like a blender. When it is hot, it will stop stirring and you can hit the Dispense button. As it comes out, it will come out with a beautiful froth on top, just like the coffee shops. I think the best part about it is no cocoa or coffee goes to waste. I hate when you get the bottom of your glass and there is all this cocoa that fell to the bottom and didn’t get mixed properly. With this machine, you don’t have that problem.

We have had our little cocoa machine humming every single night. As soon as I flip it on, it is like I have Pavlov’s dog in our house. Everyone runs up the stairs to wait impatiently for the cocoa to be ready.

Well, my handy little gadget makes the absolute BEST Pumpkin Spice Lattes and after trying several combinations, I finally have a recipe that I am happy with. This recipe will make two large lattes and I hope you can enjoy it as much as we have.

To save on cost, store your morning’s coffee in the fridge to be used for the lattes. You can also save on the cost of these by making a batch of powdered milk for your drinks.

If you want to splurge a bit, make sure to have whipped cream on hand to top with a dusting of cinnamon.

Let me know if you get a chance to try this recipe! Adjustments can be made according to your own taste! This is the perfect post-Thanksgiving Day treat!

Amy’s Version of Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Latte

2 cups milk
1 cup very strong coffee
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons sugar (or one packet of Splenda)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (plus extra for dusting)
2 heaping spoonfuls of pumpkin

Pour all of the ingredients into a pot and heat over medium-high heat until the coffee is steaming hot. Pour into mugs and top with whipped cream & cinnamon. Enjoy!

If you are interested in purchasing a Cocoa-Latte Machine, check out Ebates and order from there. They have the Cocoa-Latte Machine (just go under Search in the left hand corner) for $30 with four percent cash back through the Ebates program.

Not an Ebates member? You can sign up today. You get five bucks in your account and so do I for referring you. It is THE place to Christmas shop! Please be sure the use the link provided so that we get credit for our referral & thank you so much! (Originally Aired: November 13, 2006)

(Photo Source:Dalboz17)

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Posted in Drinks | 13 Comments »

Tip #36 For Reducing Your Grocery Budget

September 9th, 2008

Today I provided a list of 35 Ways to Save on Your Grocery Budget that I hope will be really helpful for families. I want to add a #36 though that I know would make your day… how about free toilet paper and paper towels for an entire year from Scott’s? Head over right now and put in your entry at The MotherLoot today. Please do not enter here, only entries over here will qualify. The contest is open until Tuesday night and then I will draw our winner!

How is that for helping reduce one’s grocery budget? Good luck to each of you!

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Posted in Frugal, Money & Finance | 2 Comments »

A Rare Interview With Debbie Phelps

September 9th, 2008

Johnson’s contacted me to let me know that they had chosen a handful of bloggers to chat with Debbie Phelps and asked if I would like to be included. After I got over my initial squealing and jumping up and down, I calmly replied that I could definitely make myself available for the engagement. After all, who could pass up such an amazing opportunity to speak to the mother of Michael Phelps?

Myself, BooMama, MamaPop, MomLogic, & Better Than a Playdate were chosen to talk to Johnson’s official Mom of the Olympic Games. To see her video tribute to Michael, please head over here.

During our interview, Mrs. Phelps openly discussed everything from her difficulties juggling everything as a single mom, her pride over Michael’s accomplishments, the bullying that Michael endured growing up, and the world’s fascination with her son. In the entire interview, one message rang throughout… her deep pride and love for her family.

Being a single mom was difficult for Debbie, but she attributes her strong support network as the reason she was able to juggle it all. Debbie said, “When all of the three kids were home, they were all swimmers. I couldn’t have done everything without the support of other moms and their children being in the same sport. I relied on my friends. My mother gave me a lot of willpower and determination to believe in myself and I had a strong support system that helped make sure that everything was going well.”

My question for Debbie was how she avoided falling into the stage mom trap and how she would advise other parents to do the same? Debbie said, “I wasn’t a pusher. I just always let the coaches do their jobs. My job was to be Michael’s mom.” She also discussed how she encouraged Michael without pushing him in her own direction, “I couldn’t get caught up in the stage mom junk. I took on the logic of Michael’s coaches- it’s here and then gone tomorrow. ”

As a personal finance blogger, my other questions were on money management and how she has been encouraging her son to manage his money. I asked how she would help Michael stay grounded and manage his new-found wealth and fame? Debbie said, “I watched Michael gain four years of maturity over this Olympics. I am hoping the values that I taught him at home are going to stay with him as he goes on this journey. I feel that Michael will be reaching out to those who supported him as he goes out onto this endeavor.”

When asked if she would like to share a favorite family dish, Debbie let out a chuckle. “I hate to cook. Cooking is not my forte. With the kids growing up, it was easy to just put a pasta dish together. We were carb loading all the time. I had to be economical as a single mom – a lot of cereal and a lot of carbs.” As a budget-minded mommy, I think I would be right at home at Debbie’s table.

A big thank you to Johnson’s for giving us this opportunity and a huge congratulations to the entire Phelps family on all that they have accomplished!

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Posted in Announcements | 7 Comments »

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