Super Saturday Blog Hops 10/31

Thank goodness it's the weekend!  I am so exhausted from such a busy week.  With the Holidays coming it's only going to get busier!  Well, it's time to kick back, surf and find some great new blogs to follow!  Please leave a comment!

Pear Tree Christmas Card Review

Well, it's that time of year again,with October almost over the Holiday season is just around the corner.  I don't know about you, but it really seems like 2010 has just flown by.  I can't believe it's time to start shopping, baking, planning and all the other fun stuff that goes along with the winter season.  Pear Tree Greetings has all the cards, invitations and labels you need and they have some really great designs this year.  Their cards are made of heavy 100 lb Matte Card Stock, which is also 100% post-consumer recycled!  With hundreds of new designs for 2010 you're sure to find just what you're looking for.

This is one of my favorite Photo Christmas Cards because not only can you add your own photo and text but you can also pick your own color.  I'm thinking about ordering this in plum.  I also love the Stylish Snowflake Design because it's a magnet and has matching address labels and stationary.

Stop by Pear Tree Greetings to see their excellent collection of Seasonal Cards, Christmas Invitations, Christmas Thank You Cards and more holiday stationary!

Hurry! Only 3 Days Left to Share Your Milano Moment!

 

All month long Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies has been teamed up with Susan G. Komen for the Cure to help fight breast cancer.  By supporting each other and sharing our strength, we can work together to find the cure.  You can help right now by sharing your Milano Moment.  When you share a Milano Moment, you help the fight against breast cancer because for every Moment shared, Pepperidge Farm will donate $.50 to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.   Help them reach their goal of $50,000 by posting your Milano Moment today.  While you're there be sure to print your coupon for $0.55 off any package of Milano cookies!

Disclosure:  For writing this post I have been entered  to win one of fifteen $25 gift cards or one of 25 packages of Milano cookies. 

Review: Shutterfly Christmas Collection Review

For most, the holidays are a busy time.  Between making lists, buying presents, decorating, cooking and baking, planning and attending parties and getting ready for company, one barely has time to breathe.  That's why it's a good idea to get your holiday cards early.  Shutterfly has a really great selection holiday cards this year. I love their Christmas photo cards.  They have so many great designs I'm having a hard time choosing one to go with this year.  Below are some of my favorite designs.  These are the ones I'm debating ordering.  I've narrowed it down to 4 designs but I'm so bad at making decisions I'm having a hard time picking just one.

This is one of 6 cards supporting Livestrong, part of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  10% of the purchase of one of these cards goes to Livestrong which helps cancer patients.

This is one of 8 holiday cards supporting the American Lung Association.  Just like the Livestrong cards, 10% goes to the ALA.

This card, along with 3 more, is for Heifer International.  Heifer International works to end world hunger through gifts of livestock, seeds and training for families.  I really love The Heifer Project, my grandma used to go up to their Little Rock location and volunteer for a day.  They do really great work here in The States and around the world.  I'm most leaning toward this one and the one below.

I really LOVE this one!  I like how it has several photos and in a glance friends and family can see what you've been up to the past year with out your having to write out letters to everyone.  It's so cute too.  This is probably the one I'm going to go with, it makes me smile.


To save you even more time and hassle, Shutterfly can also stamp and mail your cards for you.  At just $0.99 each card it's actually pretty reasonable too.  After postage that's just $0.55 each!


While you're there be sure to check out Shutterfly's Christmas invitations and gift tags!


Disclosure: I will receive 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly for writing this post. I did not receive monetary compensation.  All opinions are 100% my own true opinions

Super Saturday Blog Hops 10/23

The weekend is a great time to network. Here's some great blog, facebook and twitter hops! Make sure to leave a comments!

Great Giveaway: Crazy Dog T-Shirts $15 GC or Mystery Shirt Ends 11/07

One of my absolute favorite t-shirt sites is Crazy Dog T-Shirts.  Not only do they have a variety of awesome shirts, they also have great daily deals, giveaways and right now guaranteed lowest price costumes!  A rainbow blast from the past, I love this Rainbow Brite Costume for only 20.01!

They also have some great vintage t-shirts.  My husband and I especially love their 80s tees. Since it's all stuff we grew up with it's tough to pick a favorite.  Because I'm a smart-a$$, I really like this Dr. Seuss shirt:

My husband, the gamer, loves their video game shirts.  One of his favorites is the "Clasically Trained" original Nintedo t-shirt.

Crazy Dog also offers 3 ways to way free shirts daily by signing up for their newsletter, facebook or twitter.

My Review:
I was given the awesome opportunity of choosing a shirt to review and I choose "The Eveolution of War" for my husband.

He totally loves it!  I got him into playing WoW a few years ago when we first got together.  Eve though we aren't currently playing, we're far too busy right now, we still love the game.  The shirt fits great and is exceptionally comfortable.  It's become one of his favorite shirts to wears when he's out. (We have separate inside and outside clothes so or good clothes don't get worn out as quickly.)  The order arrived quickly, was exactly what we requested and is of excellent quality.  I will be ordering from them again.

Win It!
The awesome folks over at Crazy Dog T-Shirts has offered one lucky Hot Mom Tips reader their choice of either a $15 gift card or a mystery tee.

Mandatory Entry
Follow Hot Mom Tips on Google Friend Connect (left side bar) AND "like" Crazy Dog on Facebook.  Leave me a comment with letting me know you did both.  Include your usernames and email if it's not visible in your profile.  This must be done FIRST and your email must either be included or visible in your profile or all entries will be disqualified.

Extra Entries
These are optional extra entries that can be completed after the mandatory entry.  Be sure to leave a comment for each entry. i. e. 2 entries = 2 comments

• “Like” Hot Mom Tips on Facebook (left side bar) – 1 extra entry
• Post a comment on the Crazy Dog on Facebook page telling them what your favorite tee is or asking a question about the shirts  – 1 extra entry
• Post a comment on, or "Mark as Favorite" one of Crazy Dog's Flickr photos. – 1 extra entry
• "Like" or "Share" one of their products on the Crazy Dog T-Shirts website.  The buttons for these are on all product detail pages, above the main image. – 1 extra entry
• Follow Hot Mom Tips on Networked Blogs (left side bar) – 1 extra entry
  
• Follow Hot Mom Tips on Twitter  – 1 extra entry
  
• Tweet about this giveaway and leave link to tweet. (click on time under tweet)  – 1 extra entry (can be done daily)
  
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to post – 5 extra entries (must include link toNachoMama Tees and giveaway)
  
• Grab my NEW button and add it to your blog. Leave a link to your blog – 3 extra entries
• Grab my Blogtoberfest button and add it to your blog.  Leave a link to your blog - 5 extra entries
  
• Share giveaway on Facebook, Digg, Stumble Upon, etc.  Leave link and/or username – 1 extra entry each (must be verifiable)
  
• Add Hot Mom Tips to your blog roll, leave link to your blog – 2 extra entries
• Vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs - 2 extra entries 
• Vote up this giveaway on Prizey
• 
•  
•  Fuel my blog- 1 extra entry
• 
  
• Add my blog to your Technorati favorites - 1 extra entry
• 
• Click the Bump my post button above - 1 extra entry
• Enter any other giveaway on Hot Mom Tips and leave comment that you did so. – 1 extra entry each

Giveaway ends November 7, 2010 11:59pm PDT.  Winner will be chosen at random using random.org

Disclosure: I did receive a t-shirt in order to review this product.  I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.  This is 100% my own, true opinion.

Great Giveaway: ThinkSmart Wii and DS Games Review and Giveaway Ends 10/24

Game Information (from press release)

The thinkSMART series of inventive and challenging games increase your skills in logical thinking, three dimensional perception, math, memory, language comprehension and much more. Mentor InterActive is introducing a thinkSMART game for every member of the family!

• Kids thinkSMART  8+UP for Nintendo DS (8+ UP): A fun and fast paced collection of stimulating and brain twisting puzzlers that challenge players to improve their brain power.
• Kids can select a boy or girl coach that will guide them through the different levels providing personalized feedback on their progress.
• Single player and Multiplayer Modes including are available to give kids the chance to match with friends and family members to figure out who has the highest “think quotient”! 
• Three levels of difficulty and 6 categories of games including language skills, logical thinking, math, memory, reasoning and pattern recognition.

• thinkSMART Family for Wii™: This original brain and physical training program is specially designed for the entire family to play, as each player goes head to head at their own level.  
• Helps you develop language, memory, mathematics, spatial reasoning and logic skills in an imaginative and creative way. 
• Features Mental and Physical Fitness programs…specially designed for each individual player
• An individual training plan tailored to your previous performance enables you to keep track of your progress. 
• Customize your own Avatars and compete against the whole family in Multiplayer Mode to find out who has the highest Think® quotient!

thinkSMART games will have their own dedicated website, www.thinksmartgames.com to help players decide which game will be the most fun for them.  It will also feature a challenging mini-puzzler sampler competition that will include an online leader board offering prizes to high scorers on a weekly basis during the games first two months.  Players will be able to easily send the game and their scores to compare to and challenge their friends.





My Thoughts:

I believe that playing games together as a family is very important.  There are a lot of life skills kids can learn from playing games together like patience, cooperation, taking turns and good sportsmanship.  I also believe children learn best through play.  That's why I love ThinkSmart Family for the Wii.  It combines fun and learning and has a great multiplayer function. The different skill levels ensures the whole family can play.  My family really enjoyed ThinkSmart Family, especially playing the multiplayer.  Even my 4 yr old was able to play, in fact I think he had the most fun.  The only issue I have is that it's very unforgiving, you don't get a second chance if you get one wrong and it can be a bit shaky with the Wii remote.  But then that's a common problem I have with the Wii, maybe it's my shaky hands.  Other than that it's really great.

Buy It! 

The thinkSMART games are available now at mass and specialty retailers throughout North America. Suggested Retail Price (SRP) for Kids thinkSMART and thinkSMART for the DS is $19.99 and the SRP for Family thinkSMART for Wii™ is 29.99. For more information on the thinkSMART games and to enter the thinkSMART challenge log onto www.thinksmartgames.com. The thinkSMART games are rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB.

Win it!
One lucky Hot Mom Tips read will win their own copy of ThinkSmart Kids for the DS!

Mandatory Entry:
Follow Hot Mom Tips publicly on GFC AND Visit www.thinksmartgames.com then come back here and let me know who you'd like to win this game for.  Include your usernames and email if it's not visible in your profile. This must be done FIRST and your email must either be included or visible in your profile or all entries will be disqualified.

Extra Entries
These are optional extra entries that can be completed after the mandatory entry.  Be sure to leave a comment for each entry.i. e. 2 entries = 2 comments

• “Like” Hot Mom Tips on Facebook (left side bar) – 1 extra entry
• Follow Hot Mom Tips on Networked Blogs (left side bar) – 1 extra entry
  
• Follow Hot Mom Tips on Twitter  – 1 extra entry
  
• Tweet about this giveaway and leave link to tweet. (click on time under tweet)  – 1 extra entry (can be done daily)
  
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to post – 5 extra entries
  
• Grab my NEW button and add it to your blog. Leave a link to your blog – 3 extra entries
• Grab my Blogtoberfest button and add it to your blog.  Leave a link to your blog - 5 extra entries
  
• Share giveaway on Facebook, Digg, Stumble Upon, etc.  Leave link and/or username – 1 extra entry each
• Add Hot Mom Tips to your blog roll, leave link to your blog – 2 extra entries
• Vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs - 2 extra entries 
• Vote up this giveaway on Prizey - 1 extra entry
• 
•  Fuel my blog- 1 extra entry
• 
  
• Add my blog to your Technorati favorites - 1 extra entry
• 
• Click the Bump my post button above - 1 extra entry
• Enter any other giveaway on Hot Mom Tips and leave comment that you did so. – 3 extra entry each

 Giveaway ends October 24, 2010 11:59pm PDT.  Winner will be chosen at random using Random.org

Disclosure:  I did receive a free copy of ThinkSmart Family for the Wii in order to review this product.  I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.  This is 100% my own, true opinion.

Great Giveaways: Meet the Divas: Facebook Edition $20 Amazon GC Ends 11/05

I'm so excited to announce that Hot Mom Tips is participating in Meet the Divas: Facebook Edition!  Those of you who have participated in Meet the Divas before know how much fun it is. Double Duty Divas is a network of awesome review bloggers pulling double duty balancing work, family and blogging.  Meet the Divas is a opportunity to meet some of these lovely ladies as well as a chance to win a $20 Amazon GC.

To enter simply "like" Hot Mom Tips on facebook and  the facebook page of one of the blogs listed below then leave me a comment with which one.  You can do this for each blog listed below.  That's 8 entries if you "like" them all and leave a comment for each one.  Also don't forget to leave them a comment telling them I sent you.  For even more entries you can enter at each of the blogs participating!

And without further ado, the lovely ladies I'd like to introduce to you:

1. Stuff Parents Need
2. The B Keeps Us Honest
3. The Mommy Diaries
4. icefairy's Treasure Chest
5. Real Moms Real Views
6. Thanks, Mail Carrier
7. My Four Monkeys
8. Review Retreat

Contest ends 11/05.  Winner will be drawn from all entries across all participating blogs by random.org.