Fall Surprises with Hallmark

Well summer vacation is over and while the warm weather is lingering, the evenings are already getting a little bit cooler and definitely shorter.  Fall is in the air.

Were you surprised this year to find Halloween decorations already out when you were doing your final back to school shopping in August?  I certainly was, I definitely think it’s too early to thinking about costumes and I don’t even want to think about bags of candy sitting in my house… alone… unattended for weeks.  Let’s just say there probably wouldn’t be much left for the kids.

Still, I have to admit that I was pretty excited when I opened up my latest shipment from Hallmark to find some of their new Halloween products.

Like the Ghostly Singing Duo. 

Mom of the Year – It’s Down to 8 Finalists

I was excited when Walmart launched their first ever “Mom of the Year” contest. After all, mom’s work hard and deserve some recognition.  So it was no small wonder that the response was overwhelming with over 16,900 nominations. With so many inspiring stories, it was bound to be very difficult for the judges to narrow it down to just 8 finalists. 

I have had a chance to read the stories on all 8 finalists and while they are all inspiring, one spoke to me more than the others and that’s…  

Check out Knit Babies for A Chance To Win - Giveaway Notice

KnitBabies is hosting a fabulous giveaway  - 

$100 Restaurant Gift Card AND $25.00 in Paypal

Entry is super easy.  There are no hoops to jump through.  You can either enter in the form below or head over to http://www.knitbabies.com/pages/win-free-stuff 

Don't delay, giveaway ends September 22nd.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Zeemaid

New OxiClean Max Force Power Crystals - Giveaway

I want to introduce OxiClean’s New MaxForce Power Crystals, a laundry stain fighter and in-wash booster.  Formulated with 40% more brightening and whitening power versus leading laundry detergents, providing colour protection and whiter whites saving your clothes and your money.

Benefits

• 4 in 1 formula works in warm or cold water
• Crystal powder format dissolves quickly and completely
• Removes tough stains the 1st time, including grass, blood, food, grease, oil, soil and clay
• Extends the life of your clothes saving you money in the long run
• Does not contain chlorine bleach
• Safe to use in both regular and HE washing machines

What I love the most about this new OxiClean MaxForce Power Crystals (seriously that name is too long tho ;) is that it is a finer powder causing it to dissolve quickly and because of it’s concentrated strength, as little as 2 tablespoons is sufficient to do the job. 

By now most of you have heard all of my amazing stain removing stories using OxiClean.  Well, I have a new one.  Take a brand new $20.00 pale yellow uniform shirt and one child determined to pick blackberries despite the fact she’s been told not to.  Add in a hug or two from a fellow blackberry picker and then let said stain set the rest of the school day.  Let’s just say I wasn’t pleased and despite the fact that I’m always praising OxiClean, I wasn’t 100% sure the stain would come out.  Well, color me thankful because after treating the stain, letting it set for a few minutes and a quick wash, the shirt came out spotless.  The child will live another day.

I can honestly say OxiClean is my favourite stain fighting product because it works the first time.  I have even had luck in getting rid of those mysterious oil stains that show up on my clothes after they’ve been through the dryer. (argh)  Which is why I like to add a little boost to my wash.  The new concentrated strength of OxiClean’s MaxForce Power Crystals makes that affordable.

For more stain fighting information visit www.oxiclean.ca.

Enter to Win and try it for yourself!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

How about you?  Have you tried OxiClean yet?

Zeemaid

*I received a bottle of OxiClean's MaxFox Power Crystals in order to conduct this product review. No other compensation was provided.  The opinions expressed herein regarding the use of this product as always  reflect my true experiences. *

Summer 2012 - A Re-cap

Ah back to school. It reminds me of that old Staples commercial…



That’s not to say that I’m not sad to see summer go.  I am.  We’ve had an incredibly busy summer that seemed to end all too early with hubs and I both spending the last two weeks of it sick. Yuck.

Still, we managed to do quite a bit this summer and as always I look back and wish we had done more. 

For example we only visited the water park three times this summer.  Three times.  Of course, the first time we went, we had to leave after 20 minutes due to a collision and a lump the size of a goose egg on daughter’s forehead that needed icing. 

The second time we managed only 5 minutes before child#3, did a full body wipeout, complete with scraped knee, rubble embedded chest and bloody nose. And the third time..... crap, maybe we only went twice.  That’s even worse. 


We did manage to camp twice and by camp I mean, stayed in a cabin.  After 4 days baking in the hot sun in a tent last year, we took the easy way out and stayed in cabins twice this summer.   Oh and unlike previous summers the weather was excellent both times. The kids were able to swim, bike, roast marshmallows, tell ghost stories and go down a water slide.

We did manage to spend a lot of time in the pool in our backyard.

I did manage to sew mermaid tales for both girls which turned out phenomenally cool. I even sewed a swimsuit for E which while not technically the most perfect sewing job I have ever accomplished, still looked pretty with her blue mermaid tale.





We visited with relatives from Europe and went to a pig roast. 

We attended the Fall Fair, ate cotton candy, french fries, fried oysters, and popcorn, did a cakewalk, pet chickens, cows, lamas, rabbits and goats, jumped on bouncy castles, surfed on motorized surf board and listened to great live music. 


Oh and rode a pony. 

We did a stint in emergency, requiring my five year old son to be held down by two adults while he got five stitches sewn in.  Kudos to the doctor, but seriously, could you sew a little faster? I think I strained all the muscles in my shoulders holding him down. See the scar, I'm nice by only showing you the after effects.  oh and the dimples on his nose... from the wipe-out at the water park. 

We scored a new play house from the neighbour down the street and were fortunate to have to amazing neighbours and a friend who helped us move it up the street. 




We saw two killer whales swimming off our coast.  This was very cool because it’s pretty rare to actually see them while standing on shore. In a boat, yes.  On shore, never.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo as I didn’t have my camera and somehow as great as my phone is, it’s not quite up to that zoom capability needed.

Not to mention the kids participated in two morning camps.. one week of Fun Food and Fitness and one week of Arts and Crafts. 

Oh and I managed to convince hubs that it was time for a new phone.  I now am the happy owner of the new Samsung Galaxy S III.  

Something which I thought was no big deal until a techie friend of mine, who is a diehard Iphone owner admitted to hubs that he was envious.  

So this phone which has been somewhat annoying in that I’m adjusting from having used a Blackberry for the past 3 years, has been bumped up in my estimation.  Besides, new toys always give me a lift and it’s so rare we can afford them. 







What about you?  

Did you accomplish all that you wanted to this summer?


Zeemaid