Archive for html404

Get Me Some Swag…Our Swag Party and Awesome Sponsors #Brandcation #GulfCoast

Posted by html404 on May 9, 2012
in Blog Stuff, Business, Fun Stuff

Surf Burger

After our Blogger Olympics, we ate dinner at Surf Burger. It was so funny because being the social media mavens that we are all of us could be seen with our phones tweeting, posting to Facebook and Four Square what we were doing! I had their Surf Chick, which came with their stick fries and a grilled chicken sandwich. It was very good. The service was friendly and very hospitable too.

Brandcation would not have been possible without all the awesome sponsors our hosts worked with in providing so many of our activities. So I hope you will join me in giving them some social media love.

Event Sponsors:

Adventures Unlimited: Post coming up this afternoon, but we spent all day Saturday here on a beautiful piece of property! In the air and in the water…

Portofino Island Resort: Which I already posted about here.

Dunkin Donuts: Sadly, I don’t think I ate a single Dunkin Donuts bagel, but I hear they were delish!

Jambu: They sponsored our Blog Olympics which I posted here.

Hotel Coupons: A great place to save money and start planning your next trip!

Circle PR: Thanks to these ladies we got to see dolphins in real time.

Dole: Fruit breakfasts thanks to Dole.

Star Gazing: This was amazing and would have been the coolest homeschool field night! Dewey even had an accessory that allowed us to connect our iPhones to the telescope to take photos and videos of the moon!


Brandy Goleman Photography

Swag Sponsors:

After dinner at Surf Burger, we all gathered in one condo in our pjs for a Swag Party. Jambu Footwear had provided bags and our event hosts had filled them up with goodies from all the sponsors listed below. There were some oooos and ahhhhhs as well as a few squeeeeees as things were handed out! (Right, Jenn? ;-)) I haven’t even tried everything yet.


Brandy Goleman Photography


Sorry for the red eye, tried editing and I blackened whole heads!

Mogo Charm
Tervis Water Bottle – This kept my water for hydration on the river while tubing
Capsul Cases
The Village Company
Hasbro
Kidz Bop – My little ones are loving rockin’ to this.
Carex – Definitely a handy little kit to have in the medicine cabinet.
Lush Gourmet Foods – They’ve got yummy sugar coated nuts!
Nivea – My daughter and I haggled over the lip glosses.
Lady Fortunes
Pami Pocket – I ditched the little compact wallet I took to Florida for this, as it was perfect to hold my cell, cash and identity during all of the fun activities over the weekend.

Island Def Jam Records
Ayala’s Herbal Water
Wikki Stix – My son got these and is very excited!
Phone Fetcher – This looks like a cool product, can’t wait to put it to good use!
Page Stationery – I love any kind of stationary and ours was personalized with our blog name!
Cereusart
Annemarie Gianni Skin Care
Veri Peri Sauces
Twin Cottage Industries – Amazing handcrafted items!
Kids Gear – My children love the headphones I brought home and I’m lovin’ the peace it brings so I can write! 😉
Smart Mouth
Sacs of Life
Bright Star Kids
KleenSlate – This is a fun little paddle shaped wipe off board.
EAD Designs – These are terrific and I can’t wait to find homes for them!
Wahmies Eats – These were great! I really want to get some casserole covers to save on foil and plastic wrap.
Blue Orange Games – One of my daughter’s snagged the game we received and she and her siblings have been playing it!
DVO Enterprises – Provided a recipe software that organizes your recipes! Can’t wait to get this implemented!
Wordlock – A cool word lock.
Pampers – Provided us with a thing of wipes and a coupon some diapers! They sponsored Tiffany.


Two of my roomies, Sheri and Colleen.

Giveaway Sponsors:

Rubbermaid
Etching Expressions
Belkin – Great little portable charger that I gave to my husband for his cell phone.
Velvet Pepper
Frangelico
Tiny Love
Atlantic Luggage – This piece looked awesome and was incredibly light!
Drama Queen Bows

Photos are mine taken with my iPhone, except the full view of the Jambu bags and the first photo of the swag party those are Brandy’s, since I left our Nikon home…good thing too because I didn’t have much time to take photos!

Thank you to all of the above sponsors for taking an interest in 32 bloggers who went coastal in Pensacola, Florida! We appreciate all you gave to make this event possible!


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Blogger Olympics at #Brandcation #GulfCoast Thanks to @JambuFootwear

Posted by html404 on May 9, 2012
in Blog Stuff, Fun Stuff, Travel

I was one of the last ones to arrive at Brandcation on Friday afternoon. There were about four of us who were latecomers. After we arrived it was basically time to start Blogger Olympics. We were all put on teams in advance according to condos. 4 condos = 4 teams. I was on Lynsey’s team, Beachin’ Bloggers in blue, along with my other condo mates. Then the other three teams were: Trisha’s team was SEO’s in white, Kim’s team Ladybugs in red (they had adorable red wings even!) and Nicole/Blondie’s team Snark Attack in pink. Our four team leaders are also the fabulous women behind this event.


Photos courtesy of Brandfluential and Brandy Goleman Photography, our photographer for the weekend.

We did everything from a digital scavenger hunt to building White House sand castles, water relay, a hula hoop competition (my teammate Denise won that one! Yay! She rocked!) to the Hawaiian relay (had to dress in a grass skirt, necklace and coconut bra thingy!)


Jenn, my teammate, getting read for Hawaii!

We laughed, cheered and I even chased Alison to try and get a photo of her fruity drink for the digital scavenger hunt. Just plain old fun!

In the end, the SEO’s won. Runner ups in order: Snark Attack, Ladybugs and Beachin’ Bloggers. We were last, but hey that didn’t affect our level of fun!


A sheep trophy was awarded to the winning team, the rest of us received a Brandcation medal for our prize.

You are going to be hearing a lot about Brandcation. We had amazing sponsors and all of us really want to show our appreciation to each and everyone of them. Jambu Footwear was the main sponsor of the Blogger Olympics. Check out their snazzy footwear and please consider following them on Twitter and Facebook too.


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Back from #Brandcation & @PortofinoIsland #GulfCoast

Posted by html404 on May 8, 2012
in Blog Stuff, Travel

I had a lovely weekend away at Brandcation in Florida. We stayed at Portofino Island Resort and it was beautiful! The white sand beaches, the clear water and gorgeous views of the “Sound” (kind of like a bay but not, and it’s what is shown in the photos of this post) and the Gulf of Mexico. I had never been to this part of Florida before and would love to go back again….with my family so they can experience all that I did! As it was I was texting my husband, sending photos and videos so they all could see what I was seeing.

The resort not only had beach access, but a outdoor water park right in the water at the beach area and each one of the five towers had their own pools. There was also a spa and cafe/restaurant on site as well.

Portofino Island Resort was spectacular. It was clean, snazzy and the service was excellent. Truly topnotch accommodations. For 32 bloggers we had four rooms with eight women in each. Each room had three bedrooms and each bedroom had its own bathroom, I think, at least ours did! We also had a walk-in closet and the master bedroom had an even larger bathroom and walk-in closet! Then there was the living room/dining room, a kitchen and laundry room. Very spacious.

Even though we did not have time to use all of the amenities offered, it is definitely a place I would visit again.

Check them out on the web, Facebook and Twitter.

All photos are mine, unless otherwise stated. I was too lazy to watermark them! And in the words of my daughter, please do not steal them! If those that steal photos even read blog posts!


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CIS is Giving Away a KitchenAid Mixer!

Posted by html404 on May 8, 2012
in Appliances, Giveaways

This is not Faith and Family Reviews giveaway. We are simply hosting the rafflecopter for this particular givaway.

CIS is a pvc fittings company giving away a KitchenAid Mixer!

(additional prize details)

a Commercial Industrial Supply giveaway powered by Rafflecopter


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5 Tips for Family Vacation Traveling

Posted by html404 on May 7, 2012
in Diapers and Accessories, Reviews, Travel

We have not taken a family vacation in a number of years. We’ve enjoyed staycations right here at home. However, I am really hoping to surprise my husband with a real vacation this year or next. The last time we took a vacation it was on the fly. Seriously. My mom and her best friend were here visiting. My mom is a huge country music fan and has always wanted to visit Nashville. Mom and her friend were here during my husband’s unemployment so while I was all gung-ho to take my mom to Nashville, my husband was not too sure we could swing it. I think I finally convinced him by telling him that we had our hotel points to use and we would eat if we were at home anyways, so it was just our gas money that would be an expense.

At that time I was house cleaning to earn extra income on top of getting my VA business off the ground and that Friday morning I had to clean a house. When I returned from cleaning my husband decided we were going to Nashville for the weekend! Oy! I was excited, but a bit unprepared to say the least. My husband, children, mom and “Aunt” had done most of the packing but there was food and other items to buy.

This is not the way I usually plan our family vacations. I have been known to make lists, print them off and hand them to children to gather things on the list so my husband or I could pack the items in bags or in the van.

Here are 5 tips for family vacation traveling or planning tips, if you will:

1. Make lists of what you will need in the areas of clothing, personal care products and food. That way you won’t forget anything, unless you forget to put it on the list!

2. Take a crock pot and food items that can be warmed in it so you can save money on eating out. We also take fruit, veggie sticks and other snack items as well because you can never know how expensive food will be at your destination.

3. Choose a lodging that offers you at least a refrigerator so you can store food.

4. Plan your activities for your family vacation before you leave so you can budget time and finances accordingly.

5. Plan on using more convenience items, after all it is your vacation too. One example of this would be in the area of food like a family sized can of chili or baked beans. Another would be the DiaperBud. It is a disposable diaper in a vacuum sealed package that is compact, easy to store in your purse, diaper bag, pocket or glove compartment. It’s really hard to stuff a normal diaper in the pocket of a jacket, even some purses won’t accommodate a diaper nicely. Also, the larger packs of DiaperBuds could save room while traveling. DiaperBuds are available at buybuyBaby, BabiesRUs.com, diapers.com and Amazon.com

Family vacations are a lot of work, but with proper planning it can definitely be enjoyable for all, including mom and dad! 😉

“I received a DiaperBud to review as a part of my participation in a MomPact.com campaign. DiaperBuds have been invented by moms, for moms.”


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Moms in Business – Win FREE UPrinting Business Cards

Posted by html404 on May 4, 2012
in Business, Contests, Faith and Family Reviews Friday Giveaway, Giveaways

It is important to do some marketing for your business. For the longest time I only marketed my business when I needed to, silly eh? But I have learned that I get far better results if I am continually marketing my business(es). After all a business does not always grow itself, it needs to be watered – garden analogy since it is gardening season. 😉

If you are a mom in business, then you probably use business cards in your marketing plan. I have used a number of different companies to purchase business cards and have even received them free on rare occasions. This is one occasion I get to be the source of helping moms market their businesses by offering a giveaway of 250 Free UPrinting business cards! You’ll also get a chance to share your business (or blog) as one of the Rafflecopter options!

UPrinting offers some cool looking business cards. I have used a try fold, but like the look some of the ones UPrinting has to offer and will be ordering some for our farm or blog.

Prize Information:

250 Die-cut Business Cards for one winner

2×3.5″ Rounded Corners, 2×2″ Rounded Corners, 1.75×3.5″ Rounded Corners, 2×3.5″ Leaf, 2×3.5 Rounded one corner, 2×3.5″ Half-Circle Side, 2×3.5″ Oval, or 2.5″ Circle

14pt Cardstock Gloss / Matte / High Gloss (UV), or 13pt Cardstock Uncoated

6 Business days print turnaround time

Free US shipping only

Restrictions:

1. This giveaway is open to US residents only, 18 years old and above.

2. No prize substitutions allowed.

3. Winners are allowed to win once over a six-month period.

4. Only email addresses used for the giveaway will be eligible to claim the prize.

Enter the Giveaway!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


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FREE Samples from Dover Publications

Posted by html404 on May 3, 2012
in Education, Family Stuff, Free Stuff

Our family loves the coloring books and paper dolls from Dover Publications and when I recently opened our email with free samples I thought, “This is something I should share with my readers,” so here I am!

I know you may be thinking, “Who plays with paper dolls anymore?” To that I say, “We do!” Our children play with their paper dolls more than they play with their other toys. Paper dolls allows them use their imaginations and creativity. There are paper doll books from different time periods which teaches the children about the clothing people of those times wore. My girls are more interested in this than my boys. However, there are paper dolls for boys too and while they are fewer than the girls’ selection it’s enough to keep my boys happy. Soldiers, knights and sticker dolls have been favorites with my boys. My children even cut out the covers of their paper doll books!

A word about the little sticker paper dolls, they do not last long as the adhesive wears off pretty fast if they play with them a lot. However, they are very cheap at $1 or $2 for a few days of fun.

Dover’s coloring books are not only fun but educational as well. Included in the coloring books are fun facts, brief history and information about the topic of the coloring book. We have purchased them to learn more about birds, flags, butterflies, horses and I may be missing a couple.

My Boys Favorite Coloring Pages (so far)

My Favorite Sample Pages (so far)



My Youngest Daughter’s Favorite Coloring Page (so far)

To get free samples from Dover Publications, such as coloring pages, book pages and more, which arrive to your inbox twice a month, just click here.

For more information about Dover Publications and to see the other products they have to offer visit their website: www.DoverPublications.com


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Wordless Wednesday – Spring Brings Robins Eggs

Posted by html404 on May 2, 2012
in Animals, Farm Stuff

You know spring has arrived when you spot robins eggs. Our children have found a couple of robin’s eggs in our backyard. When our four year old came to the door with the second one I managed to think fast and get a couple of pictures. Unfortunately, when he went to put it under one of our trees he tripped and cracked the egg. That’s when we found out why we were finding them on the ground – they were duds. Only an egg yoke was inside, no baby bird was developing.


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Treats for Dogs: Cesar Cookie Crunchies

Posted by html404 on May 1, 2012
in Animals, Family Stuff, Farm Stuff, Reviews

I know a lot of my posts lately have been about our farm animals and pets, but hey they provide fresh content! 😉 Tomorrow marks one week since we got our puppy, Padfoot. He provides entertainment, as well as lots of cuddles. He’ll soon be too big to carry – all that nutritious grass, I mean, puppy food he’s been eating!

Our children love playing with Padfoot. He is funny because he will start doing rolls as you pet and play with him in his excitement. He going through the puppy biting stage so we have been trying to remind the children not to allow him to bit THEM but give him a chew toy or stick to chew on instead. After all it is normal development for puppies to bite. WE are just not use to it.

We all generally love just holding, cuddling and petting Padfoot or playing with him. The children are teaching him to “fetch” though he responds “get it” better.

Padfoot is a good puppy. He stays within our patio area unleashed and we leash him at night. We do not always give him dog biscuits for good behavior, but when we do we have been using Cesar Cookie Crunchies. He really liked both flavors: Chicken and Fillet Mignon. As you can see from the photos and video he shows a very favorable opinion – he thinks they are the best dog treats!

I think the photos and video speak for themselves. Yummy in his tummy! When handed these treats Padfoot gobbles them up. How’s that for a puppy’s review? 😉

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Cesar and received a product sample to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”


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Our Farm Has Grown! Bunnies, Ducklings and Baby Chicks!

Posted by html404 on April 30, 2012
in Animals, Family Stuff, Farm Stuff

Yesterday was a busy day as we tried to get some of our garden tilled and planted. Due to baby wanting to nurse, I was not too much help, so our second oldest took over tilling (very hard even with a tiller!) She’s sore. I keep telling her to put Deep Relief on, as it is an essential oil blend that soothes sore muscles. My oldest daughter made weeding our family garden fun for the younger crew by telling stories to them to make them forget they were even working! My husband started to build our new composter that I won in an online giveaway. It can hold up to 600 lbs of compost! Much larger than the one we had at the townhouse. He got the stand completed before it started to rain and I had to leave to pick up more critters.

Bunnies


This is the cleaner cage of Luna’s.

My husband built 2 rabbit cages yesterday as well. I took one with me to pick up the bunnies. What funny creatures they are! We have them in separate cages and the black and white one now named Luna (formerly Lucky and Houdini) is very neat. We think she’s a female because she is so neat! Ha! She poops in one spot and pees in one spot. Darth Vader (formerly known as Java) could be Houdini as he has seems to want to get out of his cage. He is messy. His droppings are all over the place getting smooshed since we do not have them set up to just drop their droppings onto the ground (fertilizer for the garden!) yet because the children do not want them far from the house in case predators get them. Sigh. Now we have to wait for Padfoot to get bigger to ward off predators. At least he is growing up with all of these critters so he will know they are “his” domain. Another reason for getting a puppy since an older one could cause trouble by attacking the livestock etc.

Padfoot


The children playing with Padfoot with the box from the rabbit cages.

Speaking of Padfoot. He slept in the garage with the boys on Saturday night and let’s just say our boys do not wake up easily for Padfoot went several times in the garage. My husband and I quickly decided it was time to introduce him to his dog house. Uh-huh. The children don’t want him so far from the house either since he’s so little. So being soft parents we caved and let Padfoot sleep on the patio where he usually spends his days. Wrong decision. That dog is spoiled already and did not want to be by himself. He whimpered and whined all night outside OUR bedroom! He’s grown up in a barn and he’s at our house half a week and doesn’t want to be outside at night? Come on! We are determined to get him back to his roots, after all he is a FARM dog.

Now, he’s been sleeping all day since he wore himself out whimpering all night. I’ve told the children to tire him out today so he’ll sleep tonight.

Ducklings

When we picked up the bunnies yesterday we also had to stop at a farm that runs a petting zoo as they wanted a couple of turkey poults. We exchanged them for…..? My husband didn’t want any more bunnies, I would have preferred a few bales of hay, but didn’t have room in the trunk for those so we got a pair of mallard ducklings. Remember the book, “Make Way for Ducklings”? Yep, we have two of those. They are very skittish compared to even the turkeys.

Turkey Poults

We didn’t dare put the ducklings in with turkeys because when we got home from picking up bunnies and ducklings we discovered a dead turkey. 🙁 I’d be lying if it didn’t affect me. It made me sad. I questioned what we had done wrong, did we handle them too much? Life and death are a part of life on a farm but don’t ever fool yourself into thinking it’s no big deal. It made me feel like a failure, even though turkeys are known to have high morality rates, even though they are stupid enough to run their own fellow poult over even with just 12 of them in the box. Down to 11 turkeys and counting, praying the rest make it unscathed. You can see how much they have grown already. Their white feathers are coming in too.

Baby Chicks

All 40 of our baby chicks arrived safe and sound. 3 days old. Though the hatchery mixed up our order, which I still have to call about. They are smaller than the ducklings so we put them with them. The ducklings seem happier now with the chicks. Before the chicks arrived the ducklings huddled in a corner together. Now they mingle and are quite lively.

We won’t be lacking in stories with all of these animals, that’s for sure!

All photos are mine. I was too lazy to watermark them! And in the words of my daughter, please do not steal them! If those that steal photos even read blog posts!


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