Hootie the Owl

I recently won this owl from Mini Monty Mama.

Upon its arrival, String Bean immediately claimed him as her own. Mini Monty Mama also sent a piece of owl fabric that we've been using as a baby sling (or "owl sling") for String Bean to carry Hootie around in. It is quite a sight.

Now we just need a Blowfish.

Yummy Breakfast for a 8!

Congratulations to the winners of our Pancake/Waffle Giveaway!

Cynthia C.
Aimee P.
Lisa C.
Carla P.
Heather @ Not a DIY Life
Mercedes
Jennifer J.
Deb (HopeLovJoy)

You should get an e-mail shortly. If you do not respond within 48 hours, we will contact another winner.

Those of you who did not win can go check out the Batter Blaster website to see if a store near you carries this great product!

Links Links Links

Don't forget to enter our giveaway before noon tomorrow!

If you haven't noticed, yet, our privacy policy, disclosure, and terms of use are now uploaded on this blog. There is a link on the left hand side of this page.

I was blog surfing this afternoon and ran across a great post by Simple Mom. I suggest you go check out the best company to work for.

If you are looking for a chuckle, read this post about a water mishap in LA. (By the way, this blog has great giveaways. I just won a Wii and a Wii Fit from this blog yesterday!)

Do I Smell a Pancakes/Waffles Giveaway?

Mmm...Nothing like waking up on a Saturday morning to the smell of pancakes (or waffles) cooking in the kitchen. *sniff, sniff* Can you smell them now?

The good folk at Batter Blaster ("Make a better breakfast faster, Batter Blaster!") sent me a coupon (well, several actually) to try out their organic pancake/waffle batter. I dutifully went out to my local grocery store to the refrigerator section and found this can of Batter Blaster to give it a try. After all, I'm doing it for YOU, the masses. You rely on Amy and I to do the task of trying out these things so you know whether or not they are worth it.

THESE ARE WORTH IT! It has earned the Bean seal of approval. Mr. Bean, String Bean and I all love this stuff.

I'm lazy. I've admitted it before. I'll likely admit it again. We never get pancakes at our house because I'm so lazy; however, Batter Blaster comes in a pressurized can (think whip creme in a can) so there's no mixing or anything. Clean-up is a cinch! All you do is rinse the can and throw it back in the fridge (well, and clean the pan you cooked 'em up in of course).

It is organic! I personally love the chemicals in my food, so this is not a big deal to me, but I know that for health reasons many people out there only eat organic. You'll love adding a little Batter Blaster to your life.

Wondering if it is available in a store near you? The Batter Blaster website has a store locator on it. I'd never seen it in my store before, in fact I'll admit I asked the grocery-man where it was (he gives it rave reviews by the way). I found it plain as day in the refrigerated section of my local grocery store. Most of the grocery stores in my area carry it!

Want to win a coupon to try this product out free for yourself? If I had my way, I'd keep all these coupons for myself, but I'm going to be selfless here. To win, just sign in below. We'll pick 8 lucky winners to receive a coupon for a free can of Batter Blaster. Yum, yum!

Giveaway ends Saturday, December 13 at noon. I'll do my best to get this coupon in your hands in time for that Christmas company if you win!

As always, we'll use the random number generator at Random.org to help us pick our winners! Good Luck!

Nuts and More Nuts and Some to Giveaway!

In case you were wondering, my nut name is Hazel. I cannot not take credit for the idea of naming my kids after nuts, it was my co-blogger, Mandie, that came up with it. She and Mr. Bean have always called Peanut, Peanut and Walnut is a play on our last name and Cashew is, well, just another nut. I decided to follow the trend and give my husband and I nut names, too. I picked Filbert because I think it's funny and Hazel just because I like it. Plus, they are kind of the same thing, just like a happily married couple should be! So when we were given some nuts to giveaway, it seemed only appropriate that I be the reviewer.


Since one of the primary concerns with Prader-Willi Syndrome is obesity, I am always looking for healthy snacks, and I think I've found one in Snacktrition. As most people know nuts are full of fat, but that's not actually a reason to avoid them. Nope, quite the opposite, in fact, because the fat in nuts is the good kind. Almonds and Cashews have only 17% and 6% (respectively) of the "bad" fat, and have about 20% protein, making them much more filling than an equal amount of chips or cookies. They are also rich in minerals, something most of us are sorely lacking. One thing that makes most commercial nuts unhealthy is the oil that nuts are usually roasted in. However, Snacktrition offers 4 different variety of nuts that are oven roasted with no oils. Even better though, is that they bake on fiber and calcium along with yummy sea salt, so besides the good fat, you're getting other nutrients that your body needs. Now, the big question is, how do they taste? Well, they taste like nuts. Ha! (Sorry, I had to do it.) Actually, they are quite tasty and your hands don't get greasy when you eat them.
Snacktrition offers Sea Salt Cashews with Fiber, Salt and Pepper Cashews with Fiber, Smoked Almonds with Calcium, and Sea Salt Almonds with Calcium. Their fifth offering is a Fruit and Nut Mix which combines the Sea Salt Cashews and Almonds with dried blueberries and cranberries and yogurt chips. This one was an especial favorite at our house, I didn't really want to share it, but we had a family emergency and I needed to take the kids to visit a relative in the hospital and Filbert missed dinner because he was too upset to eat and once we knew the crisis had passed, everyone just started inhaling the stuff. Filbert would stop chewing every once in a while to comment on how awesome the stuff was. He has even commented that he would buy both the salt and pepper cashews and the fruit mix again, and he is a notorious cheapskate. Peanut and Cashew seemed to like all the nuts equally, although, sometimes Cashew just sucked the salt off of the almonds. I took my sample pack to my family's Thanksgiving gathering and the reviews were all positive, but there was no clear favorite, although the men seemed to favor the salt and pepper cashews. So all in all, Snacktrition is good stuff and gets the Nut family seal of approval (or Hazel looks down and pats her tummy.)

Now that I've got your mouths watering, who wants some free nuts? I thought so! Sign up for our giveaway! 5 lucky winners will be receiving a sample package of Snacktrition products to enjoy, just sign up below. Remember just one entry per household.

Giveaway ends Monday, December 8 at noon (central time zone)!

And the Winner is...

There were 147 of you who entered our giveaway and some of you got extra entries. We used Random.org and found a winner. The winner was lucky number 32!

If that was your number, come on down! You're the next contestant on the Price is Right!

Congratulations to Keitha! Keitha is the winner of the EcoGear EcoZoo Pig bag (blessed by a kiss from String Bean). Keitha said she'd give this bag to her friend's daughter. I hope she enjoys it!

Keitha, e-mail us your address so we can get it in the mail to you right away! If we don't hear from Keitha by Sunday, December 7, we'll pick a new winner.

Thanks everyone for entering our giveaway and watch for another one coming REAL soon!

Last Chance for our Giveaway!

Today is your last chance to enter our sweet giveaway from EcoGear. Check out our review of the EcoGear EcoZoo bags and fill out the form at the bottom of the post to enter! Giveaway deadline is today at noon central time.

Good luck!

EcoZoo Bags and a Giveaway!

Check out the cutest eco-friendly bags on the market! They are made of organically-grown cotton canvas and rope materials, with non-toxic dyes and recycled plastic components.

EcoZoo's tag line is "Saving the world one bag at a time." With these cute bags, your kids will feel more like they are carrying their best friends around than saving the world.

The EcoGear company was founded by Jimmy who says, "My inspiration for creating eco-friendly bags came while I was on vacation with my family. In the summer of 2006, watched my kids play on the beach. Realizing how special these moments were and thinking about how fast my kids were growing up, I was struck by a thought. What can I do to help to ensure my children have a clean and healthy planet to enjoy?

Months later, our company started developing a new line of bags, designed with the environment in mind.

Our statement is in the bag."

These bags retail for $29.99 and can be found on the EcoGear company website. There are some mom and dad-friendly styles, too! These would make great Christmas presents.

I have had the chance to look over these bags. The straps can be adjusted small enough for my 1 year old to wear on her back. I can also adjust them long enough that I can put it on my back. I can't say enough good things about the quality of this product. The stitching is solid, the pocket of the bag is appropriate for the size of the bag, and the drawstring on the bag is made of canvas, not one of those plastic thingys that your little one can get their finger stuck in!

I think this bag would make a great "diaper bag" for your toddler who is still in diapers but going to the church nursery or daycare. It is small enough for them to wear but large enough to fit all those diapering essentials in. I can also see this as a great bag for the beach or a picnic. I think you could even use it as an overnight bag for grandma's house!

String Bean really loved playing with the pig's ears.

Are you interested in winning the pig bag? String Bean has blessed it with a kiss! (Don't worry, it wasn't slobbery.) Here is how you can win:

1. Fill out the form below for your first chance to win!

2. For a second chance, mention this giveaway on your blog and leave a comment here with a link to your post that mentions this giveaway.

3. For a third chance, add Just We Moms to your blogroll and leave a comment here telling us that you have added us (along with a link to your blog)!

4. For a fourth chance, Stumble this post. Once you do, comment on this post and let us know your Stumble name (we'll be checking)!

Contest will end at noon (CST) on 11/30. Any entries after noon will not be accepted. We will pick our winner using random.org to randomly generate a number for us.

Good luck!

**Only USA entries will be accepted***

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Exciting News!

No. I'm not pregnant.

We have been in contact with several companies asking us to do product reviews on our blog! Some of these companies are even asking if we would like to do giveaways!! So...if you aren't already, start checking our blog out everyday for some exciting giveaways. Some are edible, some are wearable, and some are useful for everyday.

Be sure to pass the word that Just We Moms is the blog to visit in the next couple of months!