Giveaway - Pillsbury Doughboy & Recipe Book

Who would not want this cute Pillsbury Doughboy and the collector's edition Pillsbury Bake Off prize winning recipes? Even Bridget could not wait! I think she liked that the Doughboy even giggles. Well, two of my lucky readers will win these great gifts too.


For sixty years Pillsbury has held the Bake Off but this is the first year that readers can help the judging by voting on the recipes. Every two weeks, from now until October 1st, there will be two recipes that will compete for votes. There have been some pretty interesting recipes so far. Some look very tasty and some make me curious. The one with crumbled bacon in a cookie made me very curious.



Now is your chance for more fun. Not only can you vote for the winners of the bake off, but thanks to MyBlogSpark you can win these great prizes too. I was excited to receive these in the mail and I am just as excited to give two prize packages away. The recipe book has some great recipes. I can not wait to try some of them. The Chocolate Chip Oats'n Caramel Cookie Squares on the front cover will be the first one I try.

To enter you have to have a U.S. mailing address because of shipping. I am sorry but I am not mailing them out myself.

The winner will be a randomly chosen number that will correspond with a comment number. For this reason each entry you make must be a separate comment or you will not get all the entries you deserve.

If you comment using the URL option I can contact you through your website to let you know if you win. If you do not have a website for me to contact you at you can leave your email address in your comment.


**HOW YOU CAN ENTER**

Your main entry will be to comment on this post about why you would like to win.

EXTRA ENTRIES

*Blog about the Bake Off and Giveaway and include a link back to this post. Make a new comment here with the URL to your post.

*Follow this blog - It is on the left sidebar. If you are already a follower it still counts. Make a new comment here that includes your follower name.

*Subscribe to the RSS Feed (left side bar) and make a new comment.

*Add the Your Fun Family Blog to your blogroll. Make a new comment and be sure to use your URL when you post it.

*Fav the Your Fun Family Blog on Technorati and make a new comment.

*Share this giveaway post on Kirtsy, Digg, Twitter, Stumble, or anything else you can think of. Each one counts for one entry so each should have a separate comment. It must include the link where it can be found to count.


I will be deleting comments that do not follow the rules so others get a fair chance. Remember that two winners will be chosen so the odds are better. If the second random comment chosen is of the same person as the first another number will be chosen. The winners will have 48 hours to email me with their mailing address. If they fail to contact me a new winner will be chosen.

Goodluck!

A Salute To America

When I think of the 4th of July many things come to mind. It really is a great and exciting holiday for children. The parades, cook outs, festivals, and fireworks make it one of the favorite holidays for children. Like many other holidays the meaning sometimes gets forgotten. A Salute To America can help.

The 4th of July should still be a day to remember our country's history. We have gone from just an idea had by a few men to a great nation. Today a digital album has been released for download on Amazon. The album is named A Salute To America. The album is a collection of 30 patriotic songs.

This digital album will normally sells for $9.49. That is already a big savings for such great patriotic song. You can save even more on June 3rd. Amazon is making it the MP3 Deal of the Day on June 3rd. This means that you can buy the album for only $1.99.

That makes it an extremely affordable addition to any 4th of July gathering. The patriotic songs will get everyone in the mood for a great Independence Day.

We are looking forward to a nice weekend spending time together. I still am not too sure what kind of food I will make but I am sure food will play an important part.Food is always important to James and the girls.

Great American Backyard Campout

June 27, get outside and enjoy nature with your own backyard campout.

The economy may be keeping people closer to home this summer. Instead of packing up and hitting the road, here’s an idea for family fun, no further than your backdoor. The National Wildlife Federation encourages parents and kids alike to trade their website for a campsite and screen time for green time.

Turn off computers, TVs, iPods, Wiis, MP3 players, cell phones and all things high tech, to experience a night with Mother Nature, listen for nocturnal wildlife (maybe even see a few), star-gaze, cook outdoors, tell stories about Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster, and explore a whole other world right in their own backyard.

Last year thousands of people from around the country participated in the Great American Backyard Campout®. You don’t need to go to Yosemite National Park to experience the great outdoors and the wonders it has to offer. Just open up your backdoor! June has been officially designated Great Outdoors Month by the White House and more than half of America’s governors and what better way to celebrate

This was our family's backyard campsite last year. We are looking forward to the fun once again this year. I hope some of you will get outdoors for the Great American Backyard Campout just like us.

Here are some of our camping posts to help you get started...

Camping Crafts

Camping Games

Goodbye Project Wonderful

You may have noticed that I am no longer doing Project Wonderful ads. I tried to stick it out since I was 21 cents from the $10 pay out but I could not take it any longer. I had to dump the ads.

The ads are great for advertisers. When you can place ads on websites for pennies and sometimes even no money at all, yeah that is wonderful. For publishers that is horrible.

I ran the ads for just under 5 months and almost hit the $10 pay out. That is not worth it to me. I could not stand it any longer though. I have been getting rid of ads that do not do well to get rid of clutter. The flashing and blinking ads became annoying and there was nothing to gain by them.

Yes, I know some people place the ads on the top of their site or they cover their site with them so that they can make money but I do not like how it looks.

I have been trying out some CPC ads from Social Spark to see how they do. I will dump them too if it ends up not being worth the added clutter. I am even thinking about dumping Adbrite.

Since I got rid of Project Wonderful there is not a way for people that do not already have a relationship with me to advertise on my site. I will now take email requests and payments through Paypal.

You can email me at ... melissa(at)yourfunfamily(dot)com

Save Our Summer Vacation

Are you still taking a vacation this year? The economy has caused many people to rethink their family vacations this year. The added stress the economy causes is exactly why we all need a vacation still. Save Our Summer Vacation has a cute petition and a contest to win a $10,000 getaway.

Life gets stressful and we all need to take time for ourselves to relax. Time to put all of the stress behind us and forget about everything but having fun. Even if you need to cut way back on your usual family vacation you still need to try to find a time to just have fun and get away.

Save Our Summer Vacation is a cute petition to Congress. It asks Congress to proclaim August 7 as "National Vacation Day". I like that idea. August is the only month without a holiday so you do not get any days off of work. I say if banks and businesses can get bail outs we deserve a holiday in August!

So what about the contest for a giveaway? HomeAway Vacation Rentals is not only organizing the Save Our Summer Vacation petition. It is also having a contest on it's blog. The winner gets a $10,000 getaway to the vacation rental of their choice and two runners-up will each receive a $5,000 trip.

I would have a heck of a time deciding with vacation home to pick if I were to win. On one hand I really miss Tucson. I could go back and visit family and friends. I would also love going to Hawaii so I could relax on a beach.

No matter where the location the price is still awesome. We have never stayed at a vacation rental before but it sounds great. All the fun of a vacation and all of the comforts of home.

It would be more relaxing and comfortable than a hotel. It would definitely be more comfortable and private than staying in a relatives house.

Blogger's Fake Baby

A 26 year old single woman in Illinois blogs about being pregnant with a baby that she knows will die. She blogs for weeks to hundreds of thousands of readers about how devastating it is and how alone she is. Becca Beushausen was not even pregnant though.

Just like any other morning, I sat on the couch with my laptop and turned on the news. I do not really watch the news I just catch a story here and there. All of a sudden I heard the word blogger. Naturally, my ears caught that!

I was shocked with the story I heard so I had to go online and look up some more info. I will save you all from having to do all of the work and tell you what I learned. I will try to just stick to facts and not many opinions.

Becca's readers became suspicious when her lies started to get tangled. Due dates changed and the baby became weeks over due. The lies finally got discovered when she announced that the baby died and produced pictures of her "child". The pictures were of a life like doll.

Her readers became outraged and the blog was quickly deleted. It was too late though. People had already found out her name and the media got involved. She then posted an apology on her blog.

The apology is very lengthy. She does apologize but it sounds like she is still continuing some lies. She really tries to get people to feel sorry for her and make her life still seem horrible. I have trouble believing anything said when someone can lie so easily and for so long.

She states,

"If in the future I want to speak out more, or want to be heard in another public format, I will do so if/when able."

To me it sounds like she is just trying to keep people feeling sorry for her so she can start a new blog.

Becca claims that she is,

"no stranger to losing a baby. I have suffered this type of loss, more than once, to varying degrees, and while the circumstances and times vary (spanning from between my college years through just this last year), the pain is very constant."

In two articles it is reported that she lost a baby back in 2005. The apology states that the reports about her incorrectly report "an event" in 2005. A college friend of her's did in fact lose a child to the disorder that she claimed her baby had. These reports make it seem more like she stole her friend's story to get attention.

She claimed in an interview that she started the blog to help her deal with her lose. If this was true she could have just wrote a journal for herself to read. If she wanted to blog about it she could have done it without claiming it was happening right now. It just does not add up.

She states in one interview that she had expected only a handful of friends to read it, but when her first post got 50 comments, she was hooked. Are you kidding me? We all know how hard it can be to get a new blog noticed and she just happened to get 50 comments on her first post without trying!?!

She also states that she was not in it for the money and that Blogher contacted her asked her to run their ads. I can not say that I have ever heard of Blogher doing that. The fact that she had a P.O. box on the side bar so people could send her things also implies that she wanted people to send her things. DUH!


If you would like to learn more about the story you can check out these links...

* an old screen shot of the blog
* the apology
* Chicago Tribune article
* Good Morning America article

The Guard Dogs

So what do you use to keep your house safe? We use two big dogs. Jack London is 85 pounds and his son Padfoot is 100 pounds. The are huge dogs and look very scary. They even have a scary bark. The problem is that anyone that really knows them also knows that the only way either of them even gets off of their butts is if food in involved.

We probably have the laziest dogs ever! Padfoot will not even stand up while he eats and drinks. As soon as he gets to a food dish he does this strange sliding maneuver with his back paws and ends up laying down cuddled around the dish.

In the past we had moved very often so people did not really get to know the dogs. We have now lived in this town for a year and a half so people know that the dogs are not really scary.

Since we have lived here longer than normal we have also accumulated a lot more possessions. Add in the bad economy and I start to wonder if maybe we should look into getting an alarm system.

I looked at a wireless security system at Protect America and found some interesting packages. I really like the Platinum Package. It includes a garage door sensor. Our garage is full of expensive things because of James' work. There is no way that we could replace everything.

If anyone else is also looking into home alarms I have learned of a special offer through Protect America. If you call this special number 877-470-2751 you get 2 free keychain remotes with their order.

Summer is Good

Summer is in full swing and I am loving it. I have gotten so much work done! Of course I am nowhere near caught up but it has just been a week of no school after all. I have been posting a lot more which makes me very happy.

I really got behind there for awhile so I am feeling good about how much I have gotten done. My garden is really suffering but it is still better than the garden last year. We have started to go through the girls toys so I have hope that we will get rid of a lot of clutter by the end of summer.

There has been talk of having a garage sale but I really hate having them.

The Barefoot Challenge

Bilaal Rajan is not your average 12 year old boy. He is the youngest ambassador that UNICEF has ever had anywhere in the world. He started at the young age of four by selling clementines, cookies and hand-made decorative plates in his neighborhood in Canada. From then until now he has raised over 5 million dollars for various causes.

Bilaal has written a book entitled, “Making Change: Tips from an Underage Overachiever”. I think that book would be a great read for anyone but especially children. What an inspiration this young man is.

Children have that flame in them that makes them want to change the world. When they see the wrongs in the world they want to take action. It is the adults that tell them there is nothing they can do, because adults get complacent and lose hope. Hope is still alive in our children and this young man proves that children can make a difference.

Bilaal recently had a Barefoot Challenge. From April 19-25 Bilaal went barefoot. Often times people say that you never truly know what others are going through until you walk a mile in their shoes. Bilaal saw that many children can not afford shoes so he went barefoot and asked others to join him in the challenge.

What a neat idea. This young man really makes you think about what you can do to make a difference. You could even do something as a family to teach your children about the less fortunate and about helping others.

If you do not know where to start or do not have money to give to charity just think locally at first. You could volunteer your time to local charities.

Bubble Blowing Solution

Summer vacation has begun so we are all looking for more outdoor activities for our kids. An all time favorite among kids is blowing bubbles. Parents can often get frustrated though because they run out so fast or get spilled. So here is my recipe to make your own bubble blowing solution

Making your own bubble blowing solution can save you lots of money and it allows you to keep an almost endless supply. It is easy to make your own bubble blowing solution so now you can be ready anytime a child runs to you saying that they are bored.

YOU WILL NEED

• 2 Tablespoons liquid dish soap
• 1 Cup water

*Optional for added strength

• 1 Tablespoon liquid corn syrup - Many people use this to strengthen their bubbles but remember that bees and wasps like sweet liquids.
• 1 Tablespoon glycerin - This is a better option. It can be bought at pharmacies very cheaply.

Have fun this summer and blow lots of bubbles!

Cleaning Out Clutter

As summer begins, I start to think about organizing the house and getting rid of clutter. It seems like having more room does not help. The more room you have the more clutter you have. When we lived in Arizona self storage was something that was used a lot. There are no basements there so you had to put your things somewhere.


I learned how to live with less things when we lived in Arizona, but there were still things that we did not want to get rid of. Before we moved we had somethings in a storage place like All State Self Storage. It really helped us get everything packed and ready to go without having a house full of boxes.

I can not believe how advanced some places have gotten. There is even an option for arizona wine storage. State of the art storage of your wine so that it is always the right temperature and does not get damaged. What will people think of next?

I really need to get going on organizing my house. Some how even though I now have a huge garage and basement, I still do not have room for everything. That just goes to prove my point. The more room you have the more clutter builds up.

Get Outside and Play

It is way too nice outside to be sitting indoors. It is time to get out there and have some fun. Once it gets warm out we spend a lot of time outside playing together. Here are some activities that require things you usually have around the house.



BALLOON or BEACH BALL VOLLEYBALL

Everyone turns into a kid when there are balloons or blow up balls. Adults and kids alike will have a blast playing this game. It gets everyone outside. It gets everyone active. Most of all it will get everyone laughing. Even the most sporty person will not have much of an advantage in this game. It is all just about the fun.

SCAVENGER HUNTS

This one can be fun and educational. By choosing what goes on the list you can make it simple, silly, or educational. If you want to make it harder give clues instead of just a list. For younger kids you can do colors, rhyming words, or shapes. For the older ones use things they are learning about at that time. It will still be fun and they can work their brains at the same time. You can also do it all about nature since you are outdoors.

OUTDOOR BOWLING

Dig in that recycling bin and see what you can find. Fill some empty 2 liter bottles or milk jugs with enough water to keep them from blowing over and start bowling. Just about any ball will do.

FLASH LIGHT TAG

Why let the fun stop just because it got dark. Grab some flash lights and have some fun. This one ends up being a combination of Hide & Seek and Tag. Younger kids and older adults have an easier time with this one since less running is needed.

**Today's generation does not know the fun games we played outside as kids. It may take a little coaxing to get them away from the video games but once you do they will love it. Get your kids outside and have some fun. It will also be a great chance to talk about when you were a kid.

Summer Break

Summer is almost here and I am soooo excited! We have put off so many things and maybe by the end of summer we will get it all done. I need to make doctor appointments for the girls very soon. It is about time for them to go to the dentist and eye doctor. I could probably use some prescription eyeglasses too.

I have not worn glasses in years. I know I should take my contacts out every night and let my eyes rest but life gets crazy. I really should get some new glasses so I can take better care of my eyes. Eyewear has changed so much over the years and mine look very out of date now.

Neona really needs new glasses. She loved her's so much that she never wears her newer ones. She has worn the same pair for two years. This year they are getting too small so I want to find a pair that she will actually wear.

I think I might get her some prescription sunglasses too. I feel bad that her sisters get to wear sunglasses and she never gets to. It would also help out over the summer. I know I hate being outside without sunglasses. Squinting in the sun makes wrinkles after all!

I better get a move on and actually get some things done this summer. If it is anything like last summer I will still have a huge to do list at the end. I really want to get things done this time.

I want to get rid of a lot of clutter in the house and do some painting. I really need to take better care of the garden this year. The far end of the yard needs some work too. I want to clear out a lot of brush and make the yard longer.

If all goes well I will get at least half of that stuff done.

Easy Oatmeal Soap Recipe

I wanted to share with you my easy recipe for making your own oatmeal soap. This would be another great homemade Father's Day gift. Oatmeal Soap has a beautiful rustic look and it is a great exfoliant.


You may remember this soap mentioned in the Family Fun with Microwaves post. That is because my secret way to speed up making this soap is by microwaving it instead of taking a long time to shred it. This also adds a fun science project into the craft. (A video is in the microwave post.)

Ivory Soap is different because it floats. What you may not know is that it floats because it has a lot of air whipped into it. Air has moisture so when you microwave Ivory soap it expands into a big soft puff. The heat starts to soften the soap at the same time the air and moisture that was whipped into the soap expands. The big puff of soap is easy to break apart once it cools enough to touch.

1. Start by placing about 1/4 cup of oatmeal in a blender and do short pulses to break the oatmeal into smaller pieces. Be careful to not turn it into flour.
   
2. Place the microwaved Ivory Soap and the oatmeal into a pan and heat to medium.
   
3. Start adding a tablespoon of water at a time until it starts to soften and come together.
4. Place your soap into whatever shape mold you are using. You can also hand shape your soap for a more rustic look. Just be sure to let it cool some before handling.
5. Let the soap cool overnight and then remove it from the mold.

The longer you let your soap sit and dry out the longer it will last when you use it. This recipe makes one bar of oatmeal soap. You can multiply the recipe to make as many as you like.

Dove Ultimate Visibly Smooth

Dove sent me their new product in the mail to try out. I have to say that I loved it. They also sent me tons of coupons so my friends are all trying it too. I will let you know how to get your own coupons for $2 off at the end. There are also giveaways. First I want to tell you about the product.



Dove Visibly Smooth advertises that it minimizes the visual appearance of hair over time. I shaved before I tried it and noticed right away how silky it felt. I never felt the normal prickly stubble.

I kept using it everyday and did not need to shave as soon as normal. I am looking forward to using this longer for the more long term results. This is right on time for all of the summer clothes coming out.

Well, as I promised there is a way to get your own coupon so you can try the new Dove Visibly Smooth for yourself. Click on this $2 off Dove Visibly Smooth link and you can print your own coupon.

They are also doing giveaways on the Dove Visibly Smooth facebook page. They are giving away things every week so go check it out and enter.