PTO Fundraising … made really easy!

Are you getting tired of the same old PTO fundraising ideas?

Well, here is a better idea!

What if your PTO actually gave you something that would benefit your family and also earned the school money?  Now, we’re talking…

My Job Chart creates a custom PDF that your PTO sends out in an email.

For each family that signs up for www.myjobchart.com they will donate $1 to your PTO!

Find details HERE

What a great (and easy!) fundraising idea!

Have your PTO President sign up HERE

MyJobChart.com, an online chore chart was designed to teach young people the concept of responsibility, work ethic and the value of money by giving them a way to earn points for completing their chores.
The free site has always offered a way for young users to ‘spend’ their points on rewards they want, ‘share’ what they earn with a chosen charity, or to ‘save’ for the future.”
Kids are able to experience the tremendous rewards of earning money for themselves and then of accumulating that money and saving for the future. As they do this they will get a $20 bonus into each child’s account just for signing up for a kids savings account.
My Job Chart is easy of use and the high-tech approach have made MyJobChart.com a hit with more than 140,000 kids in just over a year since its inception with kids completing over 9.4 Million chores using the site!

Disclosure  I have been compensated for the time spent writing this post.  All opinions are my own and have not been influenced by the compensation received.

I headed out to Walmart again this week to pick up another package of Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches.   You may remember my post about these sandwiches a couple weeks ago.  This time I wanted to try them with cheese! 

I’m usually horrible about eating breakfast.  Not just a little horrible, like I eat Cheez-Its for breakfast horrible.  I just get up so early for work that I don’t have time to eat at home and taking something to eat would involve planning for one more meal each day and I have a hard enough time planning my lunch each day.  But when I got these Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches I they would make a perfect quick breakfast!

Just about 40 seconds on each side and the sandwiches were steaming hot and ready to be devoured!

Once I got back to my desk it sure didn’t take me long to finish these delicious little sandwiches! 

These Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches turned out to be a great, quick breakfast!  I’m usually starving by lunch time but when I had these for breakfast I wasn’t even hungry at lunch time yet!  Good thing, because that day I had a ton of errands to run so wasn’t able to eat until later than usual.  Tyson to the rescue!  

Check out my Google+ album to see more pictures :)  If you’d like to try Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches for yourself visit the Tyson Goodness website to find a location near you that carries them!  Right now you’ll get a $5 Walmart gift card if you purchase two boxes of Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches!  That’s almost like getting one box for free!

Disclosure – This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  All opinions are my own and have not been influenced by anyone.  #CBias

If you read my post about our holiday shopping at Kmart then I’m sure you’ve been anxiously waiting to see what we purchased and how we decorated our home! 

I’m so excited that we all have matching stocking holders now.  We talked about buying new ones last year because Carter didn’t even have one.  So that was the very first thing we picked up at Kmart! 

I really like them!  Please don’t mind the mess on our ledge ;)

I’m super excited about these candles!  We burn candles all year round so we’ll be enjoying these yummy scents even after Christmas is over.

I love this cute little figurine.  I think it’s a great way to count down the days until Christmas and I’m really looking forward to getting it out each year so Carter can count down once he’s old enough :)

We also picked up this little guy that we hung on our laundry door.  I like that he matches the count down figurine.  It just helps things look a little more put together when things match a bit.

Last but not least we picked up this set.  Unfortunately I didn’t realize there weren’t candles incluced so they’re empty right now.  I planned on putting them in the center of the table but Carter has recently become distracted with other things on the table so I’m worried he’ll do the same with these.  Doesn’t make for a very easy mealtime when he’s trying to reach for everything besides his food.

We really enjoyed shopping at Kmart for some new holiday decor.  I’m glad we have some new things to set up so we can get rid of some of our old random things that we no longer want to use. 

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias

When we were going through our totes of Christmas decorations this year I commented a few times about how much junk we have.  It seems like there are so many random decorations left over from when both of us were younger that we just don’t have the desire to display anymore.  I knew it was time to clean out those totes and get some new decorations.

So off to Kmart we went.  I had already taken a look around Kmart.com and had spotted a couple things that I liked.  So I couldn’t wait to get in the store and do some shopping!

We’ve been in the market for some new stocking holders for quite some time.  So that was the first thing we picked up.

I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have any sets of four.  But we just got two sets of two, so it worked out.

After that we visited the candle section.  After all, there are certain scents that fill our home during this time of year and really help get everyone into the Christmas spirit!

We finished up our holiday shopping with a few more things and then took a stop by the toy section before heading to the checkout.  Overall, I was pleased with Kmart’s holiday section.  However, it could be a little bigger.  It only took up a few aisles and there didn’t seem to be a large variety of indoor decor items.  Now the toy section we were impressed with and will definitely be shopping at Kmart in the future to take advantage of their great prices.  We saw a toy that we purchased as a Christmas gift for Carter at another store and Kmart’s price was lower!  They also had almost all of their holiday decor on sale.  Just take a look at all of these sale tags!

When we checked out I was shocked to see that all the decor we purchased only came out to be about $65!  I was sure that it added up to close to $100 since that was our budget.  I guess those sale tags really made a difference because we got quite a few items!

The cashier also gave us a $5 gift card to use on our next visit to Kmart since we spent over $50.  I thought that was awesome and it was a total surprise because I hadn’t seen any signs about it.

To see more pictures of what Kmart has to offer in their holiday section take a look at my Google+ album.  Stay tuned because next week I’ll be revealing the other items we purchased and show you our beautifully decorated home thanks to Kmart!

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. #CBias  All thoughts and opinions are my own and have not been influenced by anyone.

We are always looking for quick, easy dinners around here.  Especially ones that we’ll all enjoy since Carter is such a picky eater.  With Jake’s work schedule being a little crazy during the holiday season, he’s ready to eat as soon as he walks in the door but I don’t always have time prior to that to prepare dinner.  It’s also rough on the days that Carter goes to daycare.  He doesn’t each much while he’s there so when I pick him up he’s starving.  I usually have a limited amount of time to prepare dinner before a meltdown begins.

So when I learned about Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches I couldn’t wait to try them.  They come plain or with cheese and are so easy to make!  There’s two in a package and you just put them right in the microwave.  The instructions say 45-55 seconds on one side and then 35-45 on the other side but I found that 30 seconds on each worked best in our microwave.
 

As soon as I took them out of the microwave I knew they’d be delicious because they smelled wonderful!  We are big fans of the regular Tyson chicken breast patties so I figured these would be a hit as well.  I couldn’t have been more right!

Jake put barbeque sauce and horseradish on his sandwiches and I stuck to just mayonnaise.  They were so good we ate all eight sandwiches in the box!  I made french fries too but because they took so much longer to cook the sandwiches were devoured before the fries were done!  

In addition to these being a super quick dinner, they would be great to take to work for lunch!  I’ll definitely be purchasing these again in the future.

Check out my Google+ album to see more pictures :)  If you’d like to try Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches for yourself visit the Tyson Goodness website to find a location near you that carries them!  Right now you’ll get a $5 Walmart gift card if you purchase two boxes of Tyson Mini Chicken Sandwiches!  That’s almost like getting one box for free!

Disclosure – This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  All opinions are my own and have not been influenced by anyone.  #CBias

When my friend LeeAnn from The Life of Rylie & Bryce Too had a visit from the Fairy Hobmother earlier this month I couldn’t help but make a wish and hope that the Fairy Hobmother would visit me as well!

Things have been a little rough around here lately.  As you may remember, I went back to work almost two weeks ago.  My first day back ended up being the same day that Carter had a fever for the first time ever.  Later that week we found out that he had Croup and an ear infection.  Thankfully Jake was able to use some sick time to stay home with him because I’m not able to take days off yet.

Carter’s definitely feeling better but still isn’t 100% back to normal.  His appetite has really suffered which is a huge concern for us since he doesn’t eat very much to begin with.  To make matters worse, while he was sick I got a cold, which I then passed onto him.  So he’s been sneezing and snotting everywhere for the past couple days.  Poor little man can’t get a break, which makes things hard on mom and dad too.

So when I checked my email this morning and saw that I had been visited by the Fairy Hobmother I was so excited!  You see, the Fairy Hobmother spreads cheer around the blogosphere by giving bloggers Amazon gift cards in appreciation for their hard work!  How sweet is that?!?

The Fairy Hobmother is from Appliances Online, where you can find some wonderful kitchen appliances from Bosch, Samsung, Beko and so many more!  They even offer free delivery seven days a week!

Thank you Fairy Hobmother for paying me a visit today and leaving me an Amazon gift card.  Now I can shop from the comfort of my own home instead of heading out into the Black Friday madness!

Would you like the Fairy Hobmother to visit your blog?  Just make a wish and leave it in a comment on this post!  She just might make your day too :)

Thanks to Plum Organics for sponsoring my post about tips for baby feeding magic. What if you let baby choose what’s for dinner? Check out their cute “Quest for Yum!” video and see what happens!

If you’ve read Carter’s story and my recent update about his eating then you already know the struggle it’s been for our family.  To make a long story short, Carter suffered from acid reflux, which progressed into a complete bottle aversion and having to be fed in his sleep for several months.

Transitioning Carter to solid foods has been a struggle for us because he never enjoyed eating.  Not only did he NOT enjoy it, it was something that was painful for him and he learned to dislike eating.

He has made amazing progress, but he’s still a pretty picky eater and doesn’t always eat a lot of food.  So there are a few tips and tricks that we’ve learned about and started doing to help him get the nutrients he needs to grow big and strong.

1. Use butter with everything you can. Carter gets butter in his oatmeal, on his pancakes, melted on his pasta, melted on his green beans.  You name it, we can probably find a way to get butter in it or on it.  (This doesn’t really apply to children with normal eating habits.  But since Carter has been walking a thin line as far as weight gain, this is appropriate for him.)
2. Hide foods in other foods that you know your child likes. For example, we’ve boiled and shredded carrots to add to Carter’s pasta.  I make sure that the pieces are small enough for him not to notice.  That’s a great way to get some extra vegetables into him.  I’ve also added guacamole and/or lunch meat to his grilled cheese.  This is a little more obvious since it changes the taste quite a bit, but he never seems to mind it.
3. Make sure that you’re eating at the same time, and the same foods, as your child. I think this has been more important for Carter than we originally thought.  A lot of times when he’s trying a new food and actually liking it it’s because he’s eating it off of our plate.  We may have a casserole and I’ll give him the pasta from it because I know he likes it, but then he reaches for our plates so we’ll give him a bite of chicken or peas and there you go, he likes a new food!
4. Make eating fun. I’m not saying you should let your child play in their food all the time.  You definitely don’t want to turn meal time into play time.  But make sure your child has the opportunity to enjoy eating.  Let them eat with their hands, explore and get messy with their food.  This helps them to become more comfortable with it.  As I’ve been told, if a child isn’t comfortable having the food on their hands then they definitely won’t want it going into their mouth!

There you have it!  These things have definitely helped us.  I know how hard it is when mealtimes are a struggle so I hope that those of you out there dealing with this frustration can find a little relief with these tips.

While you’re here, make sure to check out this cute video from Plum Organics!

I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. To learn more about Plum Organics, visit their Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PlumOrganics.

I recently heard about Little Pim, a company that makes videos to teach your young children foreign languages!  I’ve taken a look around their website and, although I’m not ready to begin this with Carter, I’m excited to use these videos with him in the future!

Here’s a little bit about Little Pim from their About Us page:

Little Pim is an award-winning foreign language immersion DVD series for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. We currently offer three theme-based DVDs that use our unique Entertainment Immersion Method™, which combines animation and real kids, teaching simple words and phrases for everyday activities.

Little Pim is actually the name of the panda bear who is the teacher in the DVDs.  How cute :)

Little Pim DVDs are currently available in several languages:

• Spanish
• French
• Chinese
• Hebrew
• Italian
• Japanese
• English (English subtitles)
• English (Spanish subtitles)
• Arabic
• German
• Russian

Each program is available to purchase on individual DVDs or as a discounted three-disc set.  Each DVD is 35 minutes long, but is broken down in to five minute “episodes” to accommodate a child’s attention span and allow pausing for parent interaction.

Not sure that learning a foreign language is the right thing for your child?  Check out this little bit of information from Little Pim’s website:

The most current scientific research has proven that babies, toddlers and preschoolers are uniquely equipped to learn one or more languages with ease.

Research also proves that young children who learn a language before the age of five tend to have superior reading, writing, analytical and social skills, as well as more extensive vocabularies than their monolingual peers.

So if you’re interested in teaching your child a second language you should definitely check out Little Pim.  They’ve won 22 awards!  That’s definitely impressive!

In addition to the Little Pim website you can also connect with them on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Disclosure – I have been compensated for the time spent writing this post.  All opinions are my own and have not been influenced by the compensation received.