MMMMM....Peanut Butter!

I recently won a little contest on Twitter by answering this question: how many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches will the average kid eat by the time he/she is 18?

I thought about it, and I got the answer right. Ready? 1500! Here's my "magic formula": about a hundred a year, from the time he or she is 3=1500.

So, anyway, I won (!) and what was so exciting is I won a jar of P.B.Loco Peanut Butter. I had never heard of P.B.Loco before, but I'm a fan now! They have all these delicious gourmet flavors of peanut butter: Peanut Butter with Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter with Caramel, even a Peanut Butter with Asian Curry Spice! I think that last one would really appeal to adults, but since I am hardly a mature person (heh), I chose the Peanut Butter with CocoBanana.

And my P.B.Loco CocoBanana Peanut Butter was delivered last week, and

Wow!

It. Is. Awesome.

The Cocobanana has chocolate in it (Mmmm) and bananas, and I wasn't sure if I would like someone adding flavors to good old peanut butter, but I can tell you it is delicious! And utterly decadent. Just a little spoonful on my finger was so rich it was like having a sundae with bananas and a chocolate topping!

And my cat jumped up on the counter to lick my finger, so I can certify that it is Kitten Approved as well. ; )

So, here's my verdict: I highly recommend checking out P.B.Loco online or one of their franchises near you!

Cool Moms Rule rating: A+ flavor, A+ quality, and A+ for pricing (yes, I won my jar, but you can get one, too, for just $6.95).

Wonderfall is Wonderful! Fun for the Whole Family (really)

Imagine yourself lying on a sun-drenched beach in the Caribbean, while your children play happily beside you, head off with Dad to a water park or hang out with Elmo from Sesame Street.

Picture mouth-watering meals and snacks are always available and you don't have to cook them, and a fitness center is nearby, just in case you over-indulge.

Visualize lazily paddling in the warm ocean waters, taking advantage of the swim-up bar in the pool, or taking snorkeling and scuba lessons if you are feeling more adventurous, all the while knowing your kids are entertained for the day with a nanny, and that you are looking forward to an evening show with the whole family.

See yourself coming back to lovely hotel accommodations, everything neat and tidy without your ever lifting a finger, because of course you have personal butler service.

Now, imagine you can enjoy all of this for less than you dreamed possible.

It sounds too good to be true.

But it isn't.

It's Beaches Resorts amazing WonderFALL Celebration!

In the months of September and October, when the sultry Caribbean is still lovely and warm but the peak season is over, Moms and their families can take advantage of special rates at Beaches Resorts, and Mom Central is teaming up with bloggers to let you know all about it!

You'll enjoy all the amenities Beaches has to offer for up to 45% off published rates, and with stays of 7 nights or more, you can even get 2 nights free!

But that's not all!

In addition to all the lush pampering Beaches Resorts usually offers, the WonderFALL Celebration includes activities and events catered to families:

• Caribbean Adventures with Sesame Street, featuring a new Sesame Street stage show, Gordon and Elmo from Sesame Street in live performances and parenting workshops led by educators from Sesame Street.
  
• Dive In Movies.
  
• "Baby, You're a Star Photo Contest"--your child could be featured in the next Beaches brochure!
  
• Even a celebration devoted especially to Grandparents!

You'll want to act right away, though, because all of the fun and festivities are only happening THIS FALL as part of the WonderFALL Celebration at Beaches family resorts!

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to our winner of the Kibbles Rockin' Clubhouse DVD, Sage Cambria! Sage, you were our winner, randomly picked from all the comments and the blog posts on our Kibbles Rockin' Clubhouse post. We had 17 comments, and one blog post, for a total of 18 (remember, that blog post gave the lucky commenter an extra chance to win!). Please email me, Viv, with your shipping address so I can get your DVD right out to you!

Don't lose heart if you didn't win this giveaway, everyone, because we do have more on the way (hint: one is coming up very soon!), and as you can see, your chances are very good--one in 18?! Wow! Our blog post commenter (thank you, Mary from Mommyland!) had a two in eighteen chance. Greater than 10% odds of winning! Woohoo! Could be just a matter of time before Mary's on the winners list, too.

In the event that Sage does not respond within 72 hours, I will choose another winner at that time. Please note, to be eligible for Cool Moms Rule! giveaways, you must have a shipping address in North America.

Print Out and Save this Post! $1.00 Movies All Summer Long at AMC

Starting this Wednesday, AMC Entertainment brings you the 2008 AMC Summer Movie Camp!

Every Wednesday this summer, kids can see a different movie for only a dollar at participating AMC theaters. In addition, the KidsPack, including a drink, popcorn and AMC's Frooti Tooti snack, is priced at 50% off, ($3.00 instead of $6.00).

June 25: Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (G; run time – 93 minutes)

July 2: The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (PG; run time – 111 minutes)

July 9: Alvin & The Chipmunks (PG; run time – 92 minutes)

July 16: Shrek The Third (PG; run time – 92 minutes)

July 23: Bee Movie (PG; run time – 90 minutes)

July 30: Surf’s Up (PG; run time – 85 minutes)

August 6: TMNT (PG; run time – 87 minutes)

By the way, the Summer Movie Camp (SMC) program benefits two children’s charities: – The Children’s Charity and The Will Rogers Institute.

To find out more about the SMC program and which theaters in your area are participating, check out the AMC SMC website!

The Summer of Me and you and you and you!

Well, folks, I'm going for it! Following the lead of Christie O. over at Baby Tea Leaves, I've decided to try to lose my extra weight this summer. I know it's not going to be easy; my thyroid problems are kicking my ass (excuse my French, everyone) and we have vacation coming up early next month, in which I will probably eat way too much. And then there's BlogHer coming up in the middle of July, where they will probably throw cocktails and goodies at us Bloggers (by the way, send me an email at vbruss AT cfl.rr.com if you are going to BlogHer, I would love to meet you all!).

So this may not be the perfect time for me to lose the weight. But then again, if I wait for a perfect time, it will never come, so I might as well just grow a spine and some will-power and aim for the stars, right?

Or at least, 15 pounds.

Wow.

That's how much I am trying to lose this summer, and I am putting it right out there for you all to see. And honestly, it is really intimidating me!

See, I was once that skinny girl you hated in high school, and even though those days are long gone, I am still not used to carrying around this extra weight.

But when I had to have my hysterectomy, all that changed. I had severe endometriosis, and we tried lots of other treatments, but it came right down to: have your ovaries and your uterus removed now. So, I did. And right away, I had problems.

Both of the boys were breech babies--frank breech and footling breech, thank you very much, so don't go judging me for having two C-sections, I didn't have a choice according to the doctor. So, hello, stomach scar tissue! Woohoo! But I still lost the baby weight, or most of it.

And then, along comes the hysterectomy thing, literally years later, and it floored me.

For a couple reasons: the endometriosis brought about symptoms that I had only experienced when I was pregnant with my boys. It completely mimicked my pregnancies, only I was also in awful pain. I knew, rationally, that I couldn't be pregnant again, since I'd had my tubes tied after the Rhino was born. We were done, and I was fine with that then.

Until the endometriosis made me feel like I was pregnant, and all rational thought went out the window. I started thinking, "what if?" What if I actually were pregnant somehow? And was shocked to realize I would be happy if that were the case.

And then, of course, it wasn't.

To go from that kind of elated wondering to being forced to lose my uterus and ovaries all in one go was, in a word, devastating. Emotionally and physically.

Which is maybe why I never recovered from the hysterectomy the way I did from the boys' births. Right after the surgery, I started throwing up and couldn't keep any food down. When I finally could eat, I started gaining weight in a way I never had before. I felt completely out of control of my own body. I'd always worried about my thighs and hips. Now, the weight showed up in different places. Where was this big stomach coming from? It's not like there was anything left in there! I should have been flat and sexy, with my hip-bones sticking out. And there cannot be my arms. My arms do not look like stuffed sausages, thank you! Except, you know, they do, dammit.

I had my hysterectomy six years ago now, and it's been hormone treatments and anti-depressants and all kinds of hassle ever since then. I feel like a stranger, like a completely different woman from the old me.

Finally, this year I was diagnosed with a thyroid problem, which seems to have really added to all this weight nonsense. I won't completely blame my thyroid, though; I've made poor diet choices and not been active like I should be, too. But taking the thyroid medication has made me feel a little more like myself again, or at least like I'm still in here somewhere.

So now I have decided to do something about those extra pounds at last. I actually lost ten pounds in April and May, and felt good about that, but I find myself slipping back, and realized what I needed was: a support system.

And that's where all of you, my Cool Moms, come in!

Lose weight with me, if you need to. We can do this together! I'll celebrate with you by having giveaways when I reach various milestones, and when you write to me telling me about yours, too! Go ahead and grab the button over at Christie O's blog to show you are participating in her weight-loss campaign, The Summer of Me.

And If you are already successfully skinny and healthy, PLEASE send me your weight-loss tips, your recipes, your exercise and fitness guidelines, anything to help me out. I'll have prizes for the best tips I receive, the people who provide me with the most useful information and resources.

I'm putting my ticker over on the sidebar so you can all follow my progress. This is a scary, public thing, but I feel hopeful.

Together, we can do this, people!

~Viv

Developed for Children on the Autism Spectrum (ready for another giveaway?)

Kibbles Rockin' Clubhouse is a series of DVD's developed by parents and experts in Speech and Music therapy. Led by "Kibbles," a friendly puppy, the first DVD is entitled, "Expressing Yourself."

Chock-full of Sing-Along Songs like, "Ways to Say Hello," and "Keeping Calm," the DVD from Noteabilities.com is intended to help young children suffering from autism learn to develop social skills while having fun:

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) often experience difficulty with common social skills like communication and interaction, but that's not to say they can't overcome the frustration, conquer the fear, adapt to new situations, and take part in everyday activities that mark the joys of childhood. Enter the invaluable developmental tool, Kibbles Rockin' Clubhouse, the new DVD series. Vol. 1, Expressing Yourself is available now! via

The suggested age is children from 2-7 years old, but you will know best if this DVD is appropriate for your child; as we all know, the term "autistic" embraces a wide spectrum.

If you would like to WIN the Kibbles Rockin' Clubhouse DVD, just leave a comment on this post. Alternately, you can receive TWO entries for blogging about this contest and then leaving a comment with a link to your post!

Deadline for Entries: Wednesday, June 25th.

Did someone say FREE STUFF?!

Tomorrow, June 16th, between 2 and 8 P.M., you can walk into any A&W restaurant and demand your favorite Pepsi beverage be made into a float for your enjoyment and they have to do it.

But still, you really should ask nicely. None of this, "I drink your milkshake! I drink it all up!" stuff.

But I digress. As I was saying, tomorrow is FREE FLOAT DAY at A&W Restaurants (which I honestly didn't know existed). If you don't know if any exist near you, either, try this handy-dandy A&W Restaurant Locator!

In Honor of All the Cool Dads

To My Dad;

My Dad is hard-working, earnest, conscientious guy with an incredibly rock-solid work ethic who raised, along with my Mom, three quirky daughters. These days, I am a cynical, free-wheeling Mom of two boys, but I still remember when I was a little girl, waiting up until late at night for Daddy to come home. My Dad worked the 3-11 pm shift, and I would hear Mom pattering around the house in her slippers, waiting for him, way past my bedtime. It was only after I heard him come in every evening and lock the door firmly behind him that I could sleep, because only then did I truly feel safe in my little-girls' bedroom with the white and yellow flowered curtains. To this day, I go around checking the locks in my home at night. And I never seem to get to sleep until past that eleven o'clock mark.

But the biggest lesson my Dad ever taught me was cooperation. "One hand washes another," he used to say, and that's true. The best relationships and partnerships I have today come from that central idea, that people help each other, and that each one of us has a responsibility to give back.

Except Dads don't really expect anything back. I watched my Dad take care of his own parents until they passed away a few years ago. I remember him doing many things above and beyond the call of duty for us kids, like making a late 'Taco Bell run' on a Friday night while we all watched TV together after his work week was done and I know he would rather have just stayed put at home. The ice-cream man never went by our house without us kids running outside holding up a dollar from Dad. There's no doubt he and Mom sacrificed a lot in their lives so that my sisters and I could go to college--we grew up in Florida, and I know Mom and Dad didn't have air conditioning in their home until I was a teen. And Mom never had a dishwasher, and Dad put off buying big-ticket items for a long time. My parents never even moved into a new house until after I, their youngest daughter, was married and had a home of her own.

So I guess it's only fitting that I spend at least a little time today letting my Dad know that I do remember those things he's done for us girls, and that I hope I am doing half the job raising my own kids as he and Mom did raising theirs.

Thanks, Dad. And Happy Father's Day!

What Dad REALLY Wants for Father's Day: Part II--Budget-Friendly Father's Day Ideas

Beer.

Dads really, really want beer.

You may think I'm kidding, but one of the best gifts I ever bought for my husband was a membership to the Beer of the Month Club. I didn't do it for the whole year, due to budget constraints, but the Club has 3, 6 or 12 months memberships, and you can choose from domestic or imported microbreweries, or a combination of both (I opted for the latter).

So well do men value the Beer connection that one man has even written a book entirely about cooking with beer. John Schlimm, a sixth-generation brewer, has written the Ultimate Beer Lover's Cookbook, an ideal guide for guys who like to grill and guzzle (heh). Here's a sample of one of the great recipes in the book (which you could pick up in a local bookstore at this late date, or order with express shipping using the Amazon link):

Blazing Hot Wings Sauce (page 98)

Yields 2 1/4 Cups

Ingredients:

1 packet Good Seasons Italian Dressing (powder)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 cups Frank’s Red Hot Cayenne Pepper Sauce
6 tablespoons beer

If preparing with chicken wings:

1 to 2 dozen chicken wings

Directions:

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients, mixing well. The sauce is ready to serve, either over chicken wings or as a dipping sauce for chicken tenders.

To prepare the sauce with chicken wings:

In a pot, boil the 1 to 2 dozen chicken wings until they float. Place the chicken wings into a baking dish. Pour the Blazing Hot Wing Sauce over the wings. Bake the wings at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until desired crispiness.

What Dad REALLY Wants for Father's Day: Part I--Go For Broke

Forget the ties. You can even forget breakfast in bed. You know what Dad really wants this Father's Day?

A really, and I mean really, nice TV.

He wants the full 1080p HDTV with all the bells and whistles, in the biggest size you can afford without cashing in your kids' college fund. Trust me on this. HDTV's aren't cheap, but they are worth it. How do I know? We bought one of the 1080p versions when they were first out in a fit of "MUST HAVE NEW GADGET" lust, and I can't count how many times my husband has turned to since and said, "This is the best. purchase. ever."

And I agree with him. Not only are the Nature shows gorgeous with the brilliantly green grass and the frosty snow-capped mountains and the furry lions eating up the poor little wide-eyed gazelles in incredible detail, but you can see every last little line on the faces of the View cast members, which is really great for my self-esteem.

And, of course, the kids love it for gaming.

But the main thing is, Dad is in his element sitting in front of this awesome television with the remote in hand, channel surfing until we beg him to for goodness' sake stay on ONE program already, willya? And Father's Day is all about making Dad happy!

So, two to try:

Panasonic’s VIERA full HD 1080p PZ850 series:

• Love this quote: Panasonic refers to this as, "The Batmobile of HDTV's."
• Includes a Pro Setting Menu...to access professional calibration software.
• Improved native resolution contrast ratio of 30,000:1 and a dynamic ratio of 1,000,000:1; Digital Cinema Color Re-Mastering; 24p native reproduction; Game Mode; an SD memory Card slot; RS-232C connection; four HDMI connections; increased luminous efficiency; lead free panels; 100,000 hours to half brightness and a PC input. (I know, I don't know what half of this stuff means either, but it will make Dad drool, trust me.)
  
• Recognizing the growing use of Plasma HD televisions in the gaming world, Panasonic created the Game Mode, which minimizes the time lag when displaying game images on the Plasma screen. The Mode synchronizes the response of the game image to the player’s operation, thereby producing an extremely clear image with no motion artifacts. (See, this is where the kids get involved. Gaming!)
  
• Available in four models - the 46-inch class TH-46PZ850, the 50-inch class TH-50PZ850, the 58-inch class TH-58PZ850 and the 65-inch class TH-65PZ850. (You can't even imagine a 65-inch TV right now, can you? But wrap your mind around it and it sounds AWESOME, amirite?)
  

Thanks to Panasonic and Gina from Cohn & Wolfe for these specs.



The Sharp Aquos LC-52D92U

• 52" Class (52-1/32" Diagonal) AQUOS LCD Television
• Full HD 1080p resolution
• a 15,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
• 120 Hz Frame Rate Conversion and six 1080p compatible HD inputs (I actually do understand that: the more inputs the better!).
  

Specs from the Sharp website.

BTW, The Sharp Aquos is actually the TV we have at home. No buyer's remorse whatsoever, despite the hefty price tag. Either of these quality lines, though, the Panasonic Viera or the Sharp Aquos, and I think you'll be more than satisfied.

Besides, what else are you going to do with that government stimulus check?

Tomorrow: What Dad REALLY WANTS: Part II

Not Exactly Beach Blanket Bingo

So, my oldest son, the Owl, had his 15th birthday party this weekend. It was the first time he'd had (and the first time he'd WANTED to have) a co-ed party. And it was a pool party. Which means not just pretty girls came along with the guys, but pretty girls in bathing suits.

Surprisingly, it was actually very laid-back and easy once I got past the panic of, "Oh my God everyone is going to be here in fifteen minutes and I haven't sliced the watermelon yet and where is the Engineer with the ice and is that the doorbell already??!"

First thing we did, being responsible parents: we put out several kinds of sunblock, aloe, and extra towels on the screened porch. We talked to lots of parents on the phone to assure them that, YES, this was a parent-chaperoned party. I like that my son's friends have these kinds of parents.

We filled a BIG rolling cooler with about twenty-seven colors of gatorade, lots of bottled water and "Olympic" Coke (which I have to admit is pretty cool: the cans have Coca Cola logos from Russia, China and Ethiopia on one side). We had huge slabs of watermelon
(cats have a strange fascination with watermelon)
and Stephen Colbert-approved Spicy-Sweet Doritos. The Engineer fired up the grill for hot-dogs and cheeseburgers for lunch and dinner, (he was in charge of cooking, which is one of the reasons I was so laid-back, I'm sure). And, of course, we had the big birthday cake for dessert. More on that later.

We ended up with 6 guys and 3 girls, which turned out to be a great mix. The guys started out playing videogames, and we were worried the girls would feel neglected, but we needn't have worried because these girls were assertive (yay, assertive girls!) and had all the guys out in the pool in no time. One of the girls even made my son this incredibly cool gothic birthday card.

Half-way through the party, the Engineer turned to me and said, very earnestly, "We need a beach ball. The kids need a beach ball to play volleyball with, and keep out of the water. We must have a beach ball!"

Now, we already have about ten balls: nerfy, squishy, hard, soft, small and medium-sized. But the Engineer decided we needed a big blow-up beach ball, immediately. And since he was manning the grill, guess who went out on a Big Beach Ball run? That's right, me. I had to go to two stores to find a big beach ball. But as I am Supermom, naturally I delivered. That beach ball is huge: 48" in diameter. But the kids really did love it ("Awesome!").

The Engineer was kept really busy at that grill. I'm a Mom with two hungry boys, so I know they can eat. But the girls the Rhino knows are very skinny and petite. Tiny little things. And, I am not kidding you, those girls could out-eat the guys. One girl had a total of four cheeseburgers, chips, watermelon, soda AND cake! Oh, to have that metabolism again!

Most importantly, though, the shy, usually introverted Owl went wild. His cake (remember I said I was getting back to that?) turned out great. It was a quarter-sheet, with whipped white icing, black music notes on the top (NO, he does NOT play a musical instrument, but he never goes anywhere without that mp3 player), and Happy Birthday! in red icing on the top. And around the edges, it was all trimmed in red and black icing. Not too kiddish, and seriously cool.

So here's the thing about that cake: you can't make, or so the bakery tells me, whipped icing that looks black. It just turns out greyish. So they trimmed the cake in buttercream icing instead, and it was very black. No biggie. Except that icing dyed everyone's teeth and tongue black. They looked like they had some kind of horrible oral cancer. So I was already picturing explaining to the other parents why their kids apparently had rotten teeth, when the girls got the cute idea to smear icing on the Owl's face. It started out with just a little, and then the guys joined in, and the Owl was laughing and smearing it as he was trying to get away. And of course he ended up with black icing all over him. Which is why I now have this pic of my son that looks like Marilyn Manson crashed our kid's fifteenth birthday party.

You know what? Totally worth it.

Product Review: Go Pets Vacation Island for Nintendo DS

I am a pet lover. I've always loved animals, and I brought my kids up to love them, too. So I was thrilled to take part when Nintendo sent out Go Pets Vacation Island for the Nintendo DS to be reviewed by blogger Moms like me. Why choose a Mom? Because this game was created by a Mom who wanted something fun and creative for her kids to play.

First of all, the idea is really cute: players can create and name virtual pets, travel around vacation island, and interact with other virtual pets through a special worldwide social network for kids (you'll need to connect your DS to a wireless network for this feature).

The "currency" on Vacation Island is shells. Kids earn shells by taking care of their pets, cooperating with others , and performing kind acts, like sharing food with another hungry pet. They can then use their shells to buy more food or customize their pets further. They can even dress (!) their animals in cute angel wings and ninja outfits.

But the primary objective behind Go Pets Vacation Island is social interaction and friendship. As their pets travel through the virtual world, players can add up to 250 friends. They can then send pen-pal messages to their friends about their pets. One neat factor is that safety is built right in. The pen-pal messages kids send to others in the game are made up entirely of friendly symbols like hearts and smiley faces. So players' virtual pets can communicate simple concepts like, "Want to be friends?" or "My pet needs food, can I borrow some?" while keeping all real-world information private and protected. Using the Nintendo Wi-Fi option, kids can also download additional special food and clothes. There's also five mini games built in to help kids pass the time when they aren't connected to a network.


The Rhino and I both took turns playing the game, often squabbling over whose turn it was, because Go Pets Vacation Island is a lot of fun. I had a little trouble with the pen-pal function, because I was never really sure if my messages had been sent, but the Rhino breezed right through. His only criticism was that he wishes there were more pet choices than simply cats, dogs or ponies.

Still, the game is lively and fun for younger players, and the customization offered for each pet allows for lots of game play. Every pet is unique. For example, a kitten may only like certain foods, and turn his face up at others (just like a real kitten!).

Go Pets Vacation Island for the Nintendo DS is also very affordable, retailing for only $29.99 at stores like Wal-mart, Gamespot and Toys R Us.

Now let's see how many of you really pay attention to our (very insightful and thoughtfully detailed) reviews. Those wonderful readers who read this far have the chance to WIN OUR DEMO COPY of Go Pets Vacation Island. Just leave a comment below. We're awarding the prize on Wednesday! Good luck, and don't tell anyone. It will be our little secret. ; )

P.S. Changed the award date to Wednesday for my Twitter followers since it's been down a LOT lately. Get on the ball, Twitter!

Congratulations to Our Newest Winner!

Cool Moms Rule! is excited to congratulate our newest winner, Deb from momtakeonthings.com, who won the Sleep Deprived No More book giveaway!

Stay tuned for more giveaways, and don't forget to read those reviews! We appreciate your commitment to Cool Moms Rule, and we reward our readers with great giveaways like this one.

Again, Congrats, Deb!

Last Day to Enter Giveaway; New Review Up Tomorrow!

You're running out of time!

Today is the last day to enter to WIN Sleep Deprived No More. This book makes a GREAT gift for new Moms AND Dads (And Father's Day is just around the corner). All you have to do to enter is link to the contest on your blog and leave a comment on the link. Again, if you don't have a blog, you can enter, too, just by leaving a comment under the Sleep Deprived No More review (check under "Open Contests"in the sidebar to go right to the review). If you have no idea what I'm talking about, do check out the review!

Tomorrow, in addition to announcing the winner of our giveaway, we will have a brand NEW review for you: GoPets Vacation Island for the Nintendo DS!

See? You have a lot to do, and time's a'wasting!

So, recap: Enter the giveaway today, check back tomorrow to see if you're our winner, and check out the new GoPets Vacation Island review.

Okay, I'll stop nagging already!

~Viv

Dona Nobis Pacem: Blog for Peace

Today, all over the blogosphere, you will find bloggers posting their "Peace Globes". That's mine, above, and the faces you see are my family: the Engineer, the Rhino, The Owl, and our two kittens, Colby and Cheddar. To me, as I think to most Moms out there, peace is about keeping the world safe for our children. I want to see my boys grow and thrive in a world without war, where people actually get along with each other.

You will find other blogs participating in the "Blog for Peace" blog blast over at Mimi's blog; she is responsible for starting this whole movement, and we all owe her a debt of gratitude for that!

Wishing you and your family a world of Peace.

~Viv

Announcing the Winners: Piano for Preschoolers and Prima Princessa!

Yesterday, as some of you might have noticed, was not a good day for Blogger, or Google, or any of the sites they own (at least in the morning, when I was all set to post our winners!).

For some reason, those sites weren't loading, and I haven't found out why yet. So I am a day late already, and here you have all been, waiting to see if you've won! I apologize for the delay, everyone.

Since I wasn't able to post the winners of our first contest, Piano for Preschoolers, yesterday, and today the winners for Prima Princessa are to be announced, we're going to just put them both together today, and hope our winners don't mind sharing the spotlight!

Okay, here goes!

The winner for the Piano for Preschoolers prize package, an educational program valued at 39.95, is: (drum roll) BunnyB!

And our winner for the lovingly crafted DVD designed to bring ballet to preschoolers, Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake, is (hold your breath): WindyCindy!

Hooray! Congratulations, Ladies, and please send your mailing address to vbruss@cfl.rr.com so that I can get those prizes out to you right away!

Also, don't forget to register to win "Sleep Deprived No More" is today! Get those entries in, and tomorrow come back and see if you are our next winner!

~Viv