Winner and a smile!

First I want to announce the winner of the $50 gift card to Photo Card Creations.  With so few entries, sometimes I wonder if anyone is reading my blog.  It says over 500 followers, but maybe we have some shy people reading ... ; ) 

Congrats to #3 Kim K (is that Kardashian?!?!) 

Send me a quick email at justanothermomdayblog@gmail.com  within 24 to claim your prize. 

I am enjoying being home this summer so much.  We have so much fun. I have also realized that being home is WAY more exhausting than working.  I am constanly on the go with Jack..we are always out and about or going for walks, swimming, etc.  I love it though.  He is learning so many things everyday!  One of the things he is learning is to smile on cue.  It doesn't always work, but he is pretty good at it.   Here are some of his smiles to brighten your day.

Have a great day!

p.s. if you LOVE Old Navy (and who doesn't?) check back tomorrow for a great giveaway!

Seventh Generation Diapers Giveaway!

I didn't realize how important diapers were until I became a Mom. Some go the cloth diapers, and others choose disposables. There are many choices out there when it comes to disposables, and there is a difference in which brand you choose. Jack become irritated easily, so I tried many before I found the perfect fit.  I was sent a sample of Seventh Generation diapers, which I found are an amazing fit, especially their newly relaunched Free & Clear diapers.

Seventh Generation wants to offer you an EXCLUSIVE sneak peek at their newly re-launched Free & Clear diapers. With the same great performance that parents have come to expect from Seventh Generation, Free & Clear diapers have a brand new look that makes it `clear´ what makes them so special.

What Seventh Generation leaves out is just as important as what they put in. Free & Clear diapers do not include chlorine processing, fragrances, latex and petroleum based lotions. In an effort to contribute less overall landfill waste and continue to ensure a premium standard of absorbency, the new Free & Clear diapers have been redesigned with a lighter-weight core. With processed chlorine-free wood pulp in Free & Clear diapers, Seventh Generation also makes certain that no chlorine is released into the environment during the totally chlorine-free (TCF) whitening process of the diapers and training pants.

Seventh Generation has also reduced the size of the diapers´ plastic packaging, meaning that each pack now contributes even less overall landfill waste than before. In fact, Seventh Generation Free & Clear diaper packaging can now be recycled at local supermarkets where plastic bag recycling collection boxes are available.

****BUY***

You can purchase Seventh Generation Free & Clear Diapers at your local supermarkets, drug store, and super store.  Click HERE for a $2.00 off coupon!

****WIN****

One of my lucky readers will win a pack of the newly relaunched Free & Clear diapers. 

To Enter *mandatory*: What do you love about eco-conscious products?

Extra Entries :

1. Follow Just Another Manic Momday
2. Like Just Another Manic Momday's Facebook Page
3 Like Seventh Generation on Facebook and comment on their page

*Remember to leave a comment for each entry!*

Giveaway will end on Sunday, July 10th at 11:59pm EST. Giveaway is open to US residents only! The winner will be chosen via random.org, and announced on here July 11th.  The winner will have 24 hours to contact me or a new winner will be chosen.

I also want to thank Seventh Generation Diapers and My Blog Spark for this review and giveaway opportunity!

Disclaimer: This review is based strictly my opinion. Others may have a different opinion or experience with the product listed above. I was provided a pack of diapers free of charge and I provided my honest opinion. No other type compensation was received for this review.

Last Chance.....enter to win $50 gift card to Photo Creations!

This is a low entry giveaway, and it ends in just a few hours...check it out here!

A hot 4th.....

It feels good to relax.  It was a VERY busy, VERY hot 4th of July weekend. I hope you all had a great weekend also. 
I thought I'd share a few pics of our weekend.  We saw fireworks.  Twice.  The first try Jack fell off his lawn chair about 5 minutes before they started.  We ended up inthe emergency room.  Ended up being a bruised, lip, but we thought it may have needed stitches. 
All that aside, we saw many of our friends and family, went to a few fests, and saw a parade.  Now back to our routine and to enjoying the rest of Summer.

 Right before his fall and ER visit.....

Jack LOVES firetrucks!

4th of July....

I hope you are all having a safe and fun 4th of July.  Eat, drink and relax!!!

Click image to enlarge

Via: VA Home Loans

Patriotic Popsicles....

Looking to cool off this holiday weekend?  These red, white and blue popsicles will do the trick! 

Beides the freezing time, these take no time to make, and are so festive for all the kids (or adults) on your list!  I used 3 ounce paper cups for these, but you can use yogurt containers or even 5 ounce cups!

With the hot weather we are having here, we will be eating these like crazy!!!!!

Patriotic Pops
Yield: 12 Popsicles
2 cups blue Gatorade (or blue drink of choice)
2 cups of lemonade
2 cups Cranberry Juice (or red drink of choice)
12 (3 oz) disposable cups
12 wooden craft sticks
Fill each of the cups 1/3 of the way with blue liquid. of the blue drink into each of the 12 disposable cups.  Freeze until partially frozen, about 30-45 minutes
Fill each cup another 1/3 of the way with the lemonade.  Add a craft stick to the center of each cup and return to the freezer for another 45 minutes.
Remove from the freezer and pour the red liquid into the rest of each cup, on top of the lemonade.  Freeze until solid.
Run briefly under warm water to remove the popsicles from the cups.

Watermelon, Feta and Basil Salad.....

You know, the older I get the more I forget.  I love this little "salad" so much that I MAY have posted this last summer.  If I did you get a repeat.  This is such a refreshing, simple dish that would be the perfect addition to any 4th of July BBQ.    The combination may sound strange, but believe me, it's the perfect match.  I like a lot of basil and feta, so I'll leave it up to you to decide how much to add.

Watermelon, Feta and Basil Salad (serves 2)

2 cups seedless watermelon, diced
 feta cheese, crumbled
basil leaves, julienned
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper

Dice, crumble, julienne, drizzle, grind. Taste. Adjust.

Switch to Yahoo! for a Great Cause....

The following is a post sponsored by Yahoo! Every time someone clicks here to make Yahoo! their homepage, they're showing their support for Girls For A Change.

I was selected for this opportunity by Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Yahoooooooooo!  I have some great news!  Yahoo! is pledging to donate $10 to Girls For A Change for EVERY person that sets their browser’s homepage default to Yahoo! up to $10,000!! It is so simple to do, but you do have to go through this tracked link in order for it to be counted! Visit here to read the instructions on switching your homepage to Yahoo! But you do have to act quickly as only the changes made through July 1st will be counted towards the donation.


If you haven't heard about Girls for a Change, here is a little about them: Girls For A Change is a national organization that helps to empower girls to create a social change. They invite young women to lead, design, fund, and implement social change project that tackle the issues girls face in their neighborhoods. The program inspires them to have a voice, ability, and problem solving capacity to speak up, be decision makers, create change and realize their own potential!  I think this is such a great organization, and we all need to work with our young girls. 

Changing over to Yahoo! will give you so many new things.   You can customize your homepage based on interests, time of day, or what is popular for other users like you. Yahoo! also lets you uniquely view your world (email, local news) together with the world around you (current events, entertainment news, and more).   Best of all, articles on the homepage are not just news, they are also human interest articles. 

Please join me in switching over to Yahoo!, and help out a great, great cause.

Wordless(ish) Wednesday....a wagon ride

I wrote last year about how Jack LOVED his wagon.  Well, this summer is no different; Jack still LOVES his wagon.  Everyday we take at least 3 wagon walks.  I thought I would share one of them with you.

Starting out happy and hydrated...

mad because I am making him wear his hat...

 Can you tell who won the hat fight?

 Blowing kisses...

Have a wonderful Wednesday, and a wonderful week.  Remember to enter my giveaways for Blue Bunny Ice Cream and Photo Card Creations! 

Welcome to Chicago....a Blue Bunny Giveway!

It has been heating up here in Chicago, and it's only going to get hotter!! Our favorite way to cool off is with a HUGE bowl of ice cream.  So you can guess how excited I was when Blue Bunny contacted me, wanting to send me samples of their ice cream! 

Blue Bunny has never been available in Chicago until now, and people all over town are excited to pick up their favorite Blue Bunny flavors at their local Jewel.  Blue Bunny sent me five gallons of ice cream: Birthday Party, Bunny Tracks, Banana Split, Pistachio Almond, and Peanut Butter Panic.   My favorite flavor was Bunny Tracks, but every flavor was so amazing,  and so creamy and perfect for a hot summer day!

To celebrate Blue Bunny's arrival to Chicago, they are giving 3 of my readers 5 Bunny Bucks...that's good for any 5 gallons of Blue Bunny Ice Cream!

To enter: (mandatory)

Visit Blue Bunny's website and comment on your favorite flavor! (please leave your email with at least one comment)

Additional Entries:

1. Like Blue Bunny on Facebook

2. Follow Blue Bunny on Twitter

3. Post about this contest on your Facebook Wall

4. Like Just Another Manic Momday on Facebook (comment on facebook and here)

5. Follow my blog!

Contest ends Thursday July 7th at 11:59 pm.  Winners will be choosen via random.org and contacted via email. Good Luck!

*Blue Bunny provided me with the product, but all opinions are my own!

  

4th of July treats!

 

Don't you just want to hug these?  I do, they are so cute, and so perfect for the 4th of July weekend which is ONE WEEK AWAY!!!  I can't believe it's here already!

Anyways, I plan on making these for next weekend and I know they will be a hit.  Who doesn't love chocolate and strawberries??

All you have to do is dip the strawberries in melted white chocolate, and then dip them in blue sugar!    Hopefully mine will turn out as great as these did from.allrecipes.com did.  

  

I hope you are having a great weekend.  We are off to the pool!

Photo Card Creations Giveaway!

I love taking photographs of my family and our daily experiences.  I also love sending pictures to family and friends.  What better way to do that than to turn those photos into greeting cards!  Photo Card Creations is the perfect place to do just that.  I was sent some samples from Photo Card Creations, and the quality of the cards is amazing.  

Photo Card Creations is a leading online retailer of custom photo cards, invitations & announcements for all occasions.  They have been printing photo greeting cards since 2001, and all of their cards are printed on thick, 100 lb. card-stock. They offer a variety of card designs, card-stocks & use state of the art printing technology.  They even have a professional graphic designer handling each order ensure your cards are exactly the way you want! These are just a few of my favorites!

 

The Giveaway:

The best part?  Photo Cards Creations is offering one of my readers a $50 gift card!

To Win (mandatory):

Visit Photo Card Creations and comment on which design is your favorite!

Additional Entries:

1. Blog about this giveaway

2. Post about this giveaway on Facebook

3. Like Photo Card Creations on Facebook

4, Like Just Another Manic Momday on Facebook

5, Follow my blog

Please leave your email with one of your comments.  Giveaway ends Tuesday July 5th at 11:59 pm.  Winner will be chosen via random.org and contacted via email. Good Luck!

DIY book shelves

So I am not much of a DIYer.   I have a list of things I would love to do one day, but I never find the time or energy to do them. One of my Summer to-do's, is to tackle a few of my DIY projects.  This is my first...I picked it becuase it is so simple and cheap to do! (and my husband did the painting).

Jack has so many books; they have been piling up in baskets and on shelves.  I found these DIY bookshelves on Pinterest (my favorite!).  I got these spice racks at IKEA, they were only $3.99 each.

My husband bought some white spray paint and gave them a little spray, and voila! you have these adorable bookshelves. 

 

Now they don't hold tons of books, but they don't take up a lot of space, and they are just so cute. Best of all, Jack loves them.

Not bad for my first DIY project right!?

Have a great Tuesday, and I would love to hear about your favorite, simple DIY projects!

Father's Day 2011

So my first Monday of Summer Break.  I can not even begin to explain how great it feels.  I hope to do so many fun things with Jack and hope to get myself organized and clutter free.

We had a great Father's Day weekend.  Rain was predicted all weekend, but we made it through, rain free!  So instead of boring you with my ramblings of what we did all weekend, I will just post a few of our weekend pictures.  I say a few, because I took HUNDREDS.  And as the night ended Jack let me "wock" (rock) him for an extra long time...which again makes me wish time could slow down just a little bit.  He is growing up way too fast. 

I hope you all had a great weekend and spent some of it with all of the Fathers in your lives. 

No weekend is complete without some muscles....

Posing in his bathing suit....

played some bags...

 3 of my favorite guys....

Jack and one of his favorite guys.... "papa"