A thought for the day..............

I saw this today and it really was something I needed to hear. So maybe it will be helpful for you to hear as well.

Every guilt-driven "yes" means a "no" to something important in my life.

For example: A "yes" to a committee means a "no" to a night home with my kids. A "yes" to preparing for a event means a "no" to a good nights sleep the night before.

So, think about the "yes" answers in your life and what "no" answers will come from it.

Review and Giveaway: Build A Bear Workshop

Build-A-Bear Workshop has turned into Santa's Workshop this month and the elves are busily getting all your gift requests ready for Christmas. By going to your local Build-A-Bear Workshop or to http://www.buildabear.com/ you can find an array of gift options for anyone on your list. For the first time in select stores, Build-A-Bear is offering "Gifts on the Go", an array of customized furry friends that are stuffed, dressed and conveniently packaged in gift sets ranging in price from $15 to $40. Online shopping is easy and fun at http://www.buildabear.com/ with a whole new look. Shoppers can go through the Amazing Gift-O-Mate "Gift Generator" process that helps them identify the perfect gift based on the individual's character traits.

This season the elves are following the trends as well as keeping tradition in mind. Frosty the Snowman as well as Holly and Hal Moose are back along with new friends, Lil' Robot Hal, Alvin of The Chipmunks, Winter Hugs Bear, Polar Bear, Lil' Chocolate Cub Dressed as as boy Elf , and Brown Sugar Bear Dresssed as a Girl Elf. There are also numerous other ways to make your gift more personal for the sports fan, Star Wars fan, your little Princess, soldier, or even baby's first Christmas. To see all the great gift options available go to your nearest Build-A-Bear Workshop or go to http://www.buildabear.com/. Holly and Hal will be in a one-hour animated television special that will premiere on ABC Family during Thanksgiving week, Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 7PM ET/PT (with an encore presentation Sunday, Nov. 28 at 10AM ET/PT). The Holly and Hal Moose: Our Uplifting Christmas Adventure will be released on DVD on Nov. 25.

Build-A-Bear sent me the CUTEST Frosty the Snowman. Our daughter was so excited and has played and cuddled with him every day since we took him out of the box. This cute and cuddly snowman comes with a removable broom and pipe. By tipping his hat, you can find some magic....he lights up and makes a sound! Frosty, as shown, retails for $30. Frosty is available for a limited time and only while supplies last. But, thanks to my friends at Build-A-Bear Workshop, I have another Frosty the Snowman to giveaway to one of you!

To enter: Go to http://www.buildabear.com/ and look through their "friends" and then come back and leave me a comment telling me which "friend" is your favorite. Leave me an email address to contact you. This contest is open until 11:59 PM on Monday, December 7th. Random.org will choose the winner on Tuesday, December 8th. I will send it out right away, so you will be sure to have it in plenty of time to give for Christmas!

Build-A-Bear sent me two Frosty the Snowmen, one for me to keep and one to giveaway to a lucky reader, a $60 value.

Mondays Matter: Week 46

Taken from the book Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways To Make A Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza

DONATE CLOTHES

-20 billion pounds of clothing and textiles are thrown away every year - an average of 68 pounds per person.

-1.5 billion pairs of unworn or barely worn shoes are lying in closets.

-Over 35 million people live in poverty and have limited money to purchase new clothes.

-On average, 3 million men, women and children are homeless at some point each year.

-50% of all homeless women and children are fleeing domestic violence, usually with only the clothes on their backs.

-Clothing donations to qualified charitable organizations are tax deductible.

ACTION STEPS

1. Contact a local shelter or organization that receives clothing donations and ask about any specific clothing needs.

2. Look through your closet, kids' closet, or husband's closet for clothing, coats, shoes, suits, blankets, pillows, purses, briefcases, umbrellas, and scarves that are in good condition, and that you haven't used in a year or more.

3. Organize a clothing drive at work, school, your place of worship, or in your neighborhood.

4. Wash or dry-clean items. Don't donate items that are stained or torn.

5. Fold and pack clothing in boxes, attach appropriate labels, then deliver them.

6. Consider giving directly to a homeless person.

Donating clothing is one of the easiest ways to affect someone's life in a very tangible and significant way. Also, just look in your own family or friend circle. Is there someone that you could passs on your children's clothing to? I truly appreciate the clothing we get for the kids from my sister-in-law and a girlfriend. This helps us save money and then we continue the cycle by passing on the clothes we have outgrown to my niece's children, and my friend's children. You can help someone stay warm, wear shoes without holes, dress porperly for a job interview, or wear a new outfit for school. Look in your phone book for homeless shelters, call your local United Way, contact your church or school, and find out if there are families who could use a donation of clothing. Then go through your closets and drop them off. With cold weather coming, winter coats are going to be in high demand. Please consider dropping off a winter coat to an organization today. Do you really need all those clothes filling up your closet? Millions of other people do.

Review: Itza Bitza

Thanks to Mom Select for sending me the children's computer game, Itza Bitza to try and review for them.

Itza Bitza is a product started at Microsoft Corporation. It was designed and developed by experts in children's reading, cognitive science, computer technology, and game design. It was made possible by a love for children and a drive to delight them while helping them grow. Learning to read it one of the most important skills our children need. Itza Bitza provides simple short-chunk text that meets the needs of children. It is a game that brings your child's reading and drawings to life.

My 4-year-old daughter, Reagan was eager to try playing the game. Since then she has asked to play it quite frequently. She loves drawing her own parts of the story and seeing them come to life. There are choices all along the way. She can draw her own house and sun, host a party, get her mail from the mailbox, go camping, etc. As she moves along, she opens up new categories of play, so each time she plays is different. My daughter is already a reader, but if a child needs to know what the directions are, they just move the mouse to the words and they are read for them.

I highly recommend this computer game for your child ages 4 and up. It can be found at http://www.amazon.com/ for $12.49. A great gift idea for your preschooler who will be getting ready for Kindergarten!

Mom Select provided me with 1 copy of the Itza Bitza game to test and review for them which I am able to keep. I was not paid for this review.

Mondays Matter: Week 45

Taken from the book Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways To Make A Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza

GET INVOLVED WITH FOSTER KIDS

-Over 500,000 children are in foster care and their average ages is 10.

-The average length of stay for all children currently in foster care is 2.4 years.

-14% of the children in foster care have been there for more than 5 years.

-Over 51,000 children are adopted annually through the foster care system.

ACTION STEPS

1. Find a foster care facility near you. Contact them and ask how you can help.

2. Sign up as a volunteer and get your family and friends involved.

3. Be prepared. Volunteers at a foster care facility can be involved in everything from outside physical activities to arts and crafts.

4. Become a foster parent or adopt a child.

Our community has 2 families, that I know of, that have been foster parents and then adopted those same children. These are both families who have already raised their children and are starting over again. I am in awe of both of these families for the love they have shown to the children. Unfortunately, foster children often come from parents/homes where they were mistreated, abused, malnourished, and may even have special needs. To take on these struggles just astounds me and I have seen great changes in these kids since they first came to our community as foster kids. So, to add to the Action Steps above....thank a foster parent/adoptive parent today. Let them know you appreciate them, pray for them and the children, and offer support. These kids now have opportunities they never would have had in their original homes. These kids now have a chance. Foster parenting may not be for you, but for these kids, I am certainly glad they have this community to now be a part of, and a home where they can build happy memories.

Energizer Giveaway!

Energizer has generously given me another opportunity to giveaway one of their products. Energizer has answered the call for an improved battery from their value-conscious consumers. Energizer introduces their new and improved Energizer Rechargeable AA Battery. Consumers will see the benefits in increased charge cycles and longer charge retention while holding capacity at a high rate - all without an increase in price.

The improved Rechargeable AA now can be charged up to 500 times, up to 150 more charging cycles than previous Energizer 2450mAh Rechargeable AA. It will hold more charge at 6 months than previous Energizer Rechargeable AA. These improvemvents make the new Energizer Rechargeable AA Battery ideal for high drain devices like digital cameras and for low drain devices, such as remotes and flashlights.

I absolutely love my Energizer Rechargeable batteries. I use them in my digital camera as well as in my daughter's Leapster. They are a cinch to charge up and replace in no time. An now, with the new compact charger, it will make it much easier for me to take the charger and batteries along when traveling. I also like that the charger will charge both AA and AAA batteries.

If you would like more information about Energizer and their battery chargers, go to...www.energizer.com/chargers/

So, now on to the giveaway. I have one Energizer AA/AAA Compact Charger and 4 AA Energizer Rechargeable Batteries to giveaway to one lucky winner! This is an awesome deal! The charger has an MSRP value of $22.99 and the batteries have an MSRP of 11.99. So this is a nearly $36.00 value. With Christmas approaching this would be great for your cameras, hand held games, or that GPS that you will use to travel. All you have to do is leave a comment telling me how you would use your new batteries and charger. Be sure to leave me an email address. The contest will close at 11:59PM on Monday, November 30th. I will use random.org to choose the winner on Tuesday, December 1st.
Thanks to Energizer for providing me with product for myself as well as the giveaway.

Mondays Matter: Week 44

Taken from the book Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways To Make A Difference by Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza

USE ONLINE BILL PAY

-One of the fastest growing robbery crimes is identity theft by stealing mail.

-With password protection, more than one level of authentication, increased online security, and 100% protection in case of fraud, online bill pay is much safter than putting a check in the mailbox.

-Internet use and electronic account monitoring is the fastest way to detect fraud and decrease losses from identity theft.

-Banking information can be accessed via the Internet anytime, anywhere.

-Paying bills online saves the average consumer $6 in stamps and 4 hours of time each month.

-18.5 million trees would be saved annually if consumers viewed and payed bills online.

ACTION STEPS

1. Go to your bank's website, click on "online banking" and follow the instructions to set up online bill pay.

2. Print out statements, view transactions, check balances, pay bills, transfer funds, and look for other financial information at your convenience.

3. Stop receiving bank statements and bills in the mail by signing up for online delivery.

4. If you're not able to connect online, then set up automatic payments over the phone. You may still receive a statement, but your payments will be automatically deducted from your bank account.

This is one idea that I am a little conflicted with. Both of my parents worked for the US Postal Service. This agency is feeling the effects of people communicating and doing their business solely online. For that reason, I don't do everything online. I still send letters, birthday cards, and bills in the mail. I do use online banking to be able to access our account, but don't pay my all our bills that way. Everyone has to do what is comfortable for them. Online bill paying is more cost-effective, more environmentally friendly, quicker, safer, and more convenient. But, you have to choose what method you are most comfortable with. Maybe starting with a few monthly bills and see how you like it. Next time you get a statement, check and see if they offer online bill pay.