CSN Stores Product Review

Recently CSN Stores extended me the gracious review of one of their products valued at $35.  (Which I was positively glowing about!!) I stalked calmly looked through all the products and finally decided to get something WE all could use.

I settled on this Educational World Globe because I thought it would be a great and much needed asset for our homeschool "classroom".  Our globe arrived less than a week after I placed our order online and it was packed very sturdy and thoroughly, which to me is a big deal.

The World Globe is bigger than I anticipated and right away as Jet Pilot got it out of the box and gave it to me and the kids when we were getting our school on they were completely excited over it and wanted to know all kinds of geographical information about our world.  I am something of a geography buff (yes this is me tooting my own horn...but ask my husband-its just something I am good at...thank US NAVY for the geography knowledge!!)  so I was just as excited as the kids to be talking about geography.

Our globe sits on a nice plastic stand, the font is a decent size, not to big or to small and it is labelled with islands and waterways that I have not normally seen on globes.  It has nice little touches on it that are age appropriate for Bonnie to read and see; like an arrow on the equator that says "The Earth rotates this way".  The globe is also slightly raised to detail mountain ranges and this helps to probe deeper questions with my kids and wanting to know more about Earth, Colorado, Chile, etc..  And I love it when learning takes a fun turn!!  The attention to detail and fine craftsmanship that went into the construction of this globe is noticeable from the second it came out of the box.  I know that this Educational Globe will be a treasured piece not only as one of our homeschool education tools, but our home, for years to come!!

THANKS CSN STORES!!

Disclosure: I received no monetary compensation for this review. I received products from CSN Stores for review but was under no under obligation from any person or company to post a positive review. All information on CSN Stores was obtained from literature sent to me or published online on their website.  All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine

Green Blog Hop

For "Green" Blogs or "Green" Sites Only - Even if you're just starting out!
The purpose of creating this blog hop was not to create yet another general hop, but to help network bloggers who have taken the initiative to go green for the purpose of education and continuing efforts of saving our planet - one home at a time.  We will be monitoring the blogs and will delete those that are not deemed somewhat green.

 * PLEASE make sure to put the button on your site and make a quick blog entry - otherwise we will not be reaching the most number of people that would be interested in networking

 

 

* Follow the blogs of the ladies in the top three spots :

* Link your green blog to the MckLinky

* Follow as many other blogs as you want. The more you follow, the more that will follow you back!  If someone follows you, it is common courtesy to follow back.  

Be Kind - Try and follow at least one other person that is not a hostess

ReBinder Review and Giveaway

Wanna know a secret??  My absolute favorite time of year (next to my birthday) is back to school time.  It always has been.  Since I was a kid and went with my mom to get all the items on our school supply list.  I just love new office supply stuff.

So you can only imagine how giddy I was when I discovered ReBinder.

ReBinder is the only true zero waste office supply manufacturer and the brand of choice for customers looking for sustainable, quality office supplies.  ReBinder product materials are sourced from responsibly managed forests and verified FSC and SFI certified sources.  Now since I am on the road to being crunchy ReBinder is a company that speaks to my heart!!  I received the Sample Pack from ReBinder for review and it included several very eco-cool pieces such as:

• Recycled Binder
• Recycled Notebook
• CD Sleeves

Since we are a homeschooling family we put that kit to use right away!!  Bonnie uses the binder for Heritage Studies and Clyde is using the notebook daily to practice his numbers and letters.   I know in the past when I have bought eco-friendly/recycled office supplies sometimes they do not stand up to the kids and how hard they are on them.  But the ReBinder products are different, for being 100% recycled--they are MAD STRONG and STURDY!!!  I am very impressed!! 

YAY to ReBinder for changing the game on Recycled Office Products and Bravo Zulu to you for saving trees, water, cutting BTU energy and cutting out MILLIONS of pounds of greenhouse gases!! 

Also ReBinder has a great contest going on their twitter page right now, follow them on Twitter is a AND try to win some cash! On October 15, 2010, they will be drawing one random name from their twitter followers. And that lucky person will receive a $100 gift card for ReBinder.com products!
If you would like to be eligible:
1. Click here to visit our Twitter feed.
2. Sign in if you have an account, or create a new twitter account.
3. Click the "follow" button to follow ReBinder on twitter.
4. Wait to hear if you are the lucky winner!

Easy Peasy right??

Now on to the fun part....

BUY IT: 

You can buy ReBinder products here

WIN IT:

MacKenzie @ ReBinder has offered one The Dill-io reader a prize of the same Sample Pack I received!!

MANDATORY ENTRY: Just leave a comment on this post! No Spam please!
 
EXTRA ENTRIES: (For any of the following that you already do, just say that and comment XX amount of times it says!!)

• Follow The Dill-io thru GFC (+2 entries)
• Follow The Dill-io on Networked Blogs (+3 entries)
• Become an email subscriber of The Dill-io (+5 entries)
• Become an RSS Subscriber to The Dill-io (+2 entries)
• Become a fan of ReBinder on Facebook and leave them a comment on their page saying The Dill-io sent you!! (+3 entries)
• Follow The Dill-io on twitter (+2 entries) 
• Follow ReBinder on twitter (+1 entry)
• Become a fan of The Dill-io on Facebook (+2 entries) 
• Add my button to your blog & leave a link  (+5 entries)
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to it in your comments (+5 entries)
• Tweet this giveaway (just hit the Retweet button at the top of this post!!) (+1 entry daily)

 Giveaway open to residents 18 years old+  residing in the US and Canada.  Contest ends on October 21th at 11:59 pm CST. The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be notified via email.  The lucky winner will have 24 hours to contact me. If you fail to contact me within the 24 hour period, a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: I received no monetary compensation for this review. I received products from ReBinder for review but was under no under obligation from any person or company to post a positive review. All information on ReBinder was obtained from literature sent to me or published online on their website.  All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

Wordless Wednesday

WAT-AAH Review and Giveaway

We are a family that drinks LOTS of water.  The adults more so now since we both gave us soda last year (you can read about that here) and our kids have always wanted for water since we never give them juice or soda.  We are weird I know.  LOL.  Jet Pilot and I are pretty good natured about drinking it but sometimes it just gets a little old.  Yeah, yeah I know all the health benefits and how it makes me a better mama and wife but tell that to my palate!  Sometimes water just needs something more.  Or I need more ooptions!!
Then I discovered WAT-AAH!  

 


WAT-AAH is the first premium water brand for kids created by a mom that wanted her kids to drink more water and less sugary drinks.  Her goal was to reduce children's dependency on sugar, which is a great idea (in my opinion).  And WAT-AAH was born.   It is pure, clean and healthy hydration when childhood obesity is at its highest. 





WAT-AAH comes in 4 nifty varieties:

WAT-AAH Brain (ultra purified water with electrolytes)

WAT-AAH Power (ultra purified water with bone building magnesium)

WAT-AAH Body (pure spring water-THAT'S ALL!!)

WAT-AAH Energy (ultra purified water with energizing oxygen)

Once our WAT-AAH products arrived and were able to chill in the fridge for a bit we all grabbed a bottle and sat down to dinner.  I got to try WAT-AAH Energy and yes it was water but it had a kick.  It was the oxygen...sounds weird I know but I would swear the water tasted lighter.  And the kids loved it.  Clyde just thought it was cool because he was drinking out a big boy bottle and Bonnie said she felt stronger after drinking hers (she got the Magnesium variety-that kid...she is a hoot!)

It also took about .4 seconds for Clyde to discover the tattoos then another .6 seconds to place them on his face, tummy and forearm.  So score one for WAT-AAH and their including of the tattoos in the goodie pack!!  WAT-AAH was a hit with my whole family so officially consider me a WAT-AAH MOM!!  Thanks WAT-AAH for the great products and awesome mission!!

BUY IT:

Visit WAT-AAH to see if there is a store near you that sells WAT-AAH. Or buy from Amazon.

WIN IT:

The great people at WAT-AAH has offered my readers a chance to win a free mixed case of WAT-AAH! + cool WAT-AAH! goodies (stickers, tattoos, pencils ect)

MANDATORY ENTRY: Tell me what variety of WAT-AAH sounds the most intriguing to you!

EXTRA ENTRIES:

• Follow The Dill-io thru GFC (+2 entries)
• Follow The Dill-io on Networked Blogs (+3 entries)
• Become an email subscriber of The Dill-io (+3 entries)
• Become an RSS Subscriber to The Dill-io (+2 entries)
• Become a fan of WAT-AAH on Facebook and leave them a comment on their page saying The Dill-io sent you!! (+3 entries)
• Follow The Dill-io on twitter (+2 entries) 
• Follow WAT-AAH on twitter (+1 entry)
• Become a fan of The Dill-io on Facebook (+2 entries) 
• Add my button to your blog & leave a link  (+5 entries)
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to it in your comments (+5 entries)
• Tweet this giveaway (just hit the Retweet button at the top of this post!!) (+1 entry daily)

 Giveaway open to residents 18 years old+  residing in the US.  Contest ends on October 19th at 11:59 pm CST. The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be notified via email.  The lucky winner will have 24 hours to contact me. If you fail to contact me within the 24 hour period, a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: I received no monetary compensation for this review. I received products from WAT-AAH for review but was under no under obligation from any person or company to post a positive review. All information on WAT-AAH was obtained from literature sent to me or published online on their website.  All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

Cafe Don Pablo Coffee Review and Giveaway 2 WINNERS

As an former Navy "salt" and being married to a Jet Pilot, collectively between the two of we have tried A LOT of coffee.
Some good.  Some not good.
So I consider myself something of a coffee connoisseur- we like dark roasts, whole bean, full bodied stuff.  Naturally when I came across Cafe Don Pablo Coffee I knew it was something Jet Pilot and I had to try.

Cafe Don Pablo graciously sent me their Cafe Don Pablo Signature Blend and Pablo's Pride Guatemala whole bean coffee for review.  And it was just in the nick of time.  We had volunteered at the early service for church which meant we had to be there at 7:45AM on Sunday which meant that this family had to be up at 6AM.  Jet Pilot programmed the coffee maker Saturday night and as we were buzzing through the house early Sunday morning like busy bees we grabbed the coffee and ran out the door.

IT WAS DELICIOUS!! We literally both drank our cups before we were halfway to church!  Cafe Don Pablo coffee was smooth, full flavored, and tasted amazing!! Another very great (and PATRIOTIC) thing that they do is if you purchase their Wounded Warrior Project Colombian Supremo coffee a portion of the proceeds go to support the Wounded Warrior Project.  You can read more about that awesome project here!!

BUY IT:

You can purchase Cafe Don Pablo at Costco and here

 

WIN IT:

Cafe Don Pablo is giving 2 lucky The Dill-io winners a 2 lb. bag of coffee of their choosing!! 

MANDATORY ENTRY: Just leave a comment on this post about coffee and you! 

EXTRA ENTRIES:

• Follow The Dill-io thru GFC (+2 entries)
• Follow The Dill-io on Networked Blogs (+3 entries)
• Become an email subscriber of The Dill-io (+3 entries)
• Become an RSS Subscriber to The Dill-io (+2 entries)
• Become a fan of Cafe Don Pablo Coffee on Facebook (+1 entry)
• Follow The Dill-io on twitter (+2 entries) 
• Become a fan of The Dill-io on Facebook (+2 entries) 
• Add my button to your blog & leave a link  (+5 entries)
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to it in your comments (+5 entries)
• Tweet this giveaway (just hit the Retweet button at the top of this post!!) (+1 entry daily)

 Giveaway open to residents 18 years old+  residing in the US.  Contest ends on October 19th at 11:59 pm CST. The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be notified via email.  The lucky winner will have 24 hours to contact me. If you fail to contact me within the 24 hour period, a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: I received no monetary compensation for this review. I received products from Don Pablo Coffee for review but was under no obligation from any person or company to elicit a positive review. All information on Don Pablo Coffee was obtained from literature sent to me or published online on their website.  All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

It's going to be a long nine months

I asked to my darling son "What kind of baby are we going to have.." expecting him to say boy or girl.

His response "A NINJA BABY mahmah!!!"

Then as if I weren't a total glutton for punishment I responded "Uummm....ok, what should we name our new baby..."
(insert me making a squichy nervous face)
His response "HOPPER!!"'

Where do I go with that?? He's definitely going to be my comedic relief this pregnancy. I love kids. I hope we have more, it's what life is all about!!

Buysoapnuts.com Winner

The Winner of the Buysoapnuts.com Giveaway is #31....CINDI S WORLD who said " You button is on my blog..."  CONGRATS!!

Thanks everyone for entering my giveaways and please continue to do so!!!

Stepping up my game...

In an effort to look more polished, business like and grown up (I know a grown up?? Lol) I reached out to all you wonderful readers and bloggers for some blog button help.  While I loved my old button I really wanted something with the name of my blog on it.  The great response I got back was awesome and I enlisted the help of a very cool chick!!
Christen over at Scentsy Wickless Candles came through for me in a huge way!!  She designed this snazzy little button for me!!

She is totally awesome right?  I love it!! I really do!!   Christen is a Scentsy representative and the two of us are planning a pretty awesome giveaway for all 'The Dill-io" readers coming up soon!! Sooo stay tuned!!   

If you can't wait and need some Scentsy in life right now you can check out her site here!!

THANKS CHRISTEN!!

Tropical Traditions Gold Label Organic Virgin Coconut Oil Review and Giveaway

Tropical Traditions recently sent me their Gold Label Organic Virgin Coconut Oil for review.  It literally sat on my counter for days before I got the nerve to open it up and decide to experiment with it.  See, I am not that great of a cook and I tend to get intimidated with new recipes and thinking outside the box.  Coupled with the idea that I don't like to follow recipes, I always am adding this or that, taking this out or healthify-ing this to that.
I know, I am a mess.
So I decided to just play it safe and start small.  I started with sauteing bell peppers for dinner, and then I moved on to making homemade french fries seasoned with coconut oil and spices.

Fries all spiced and schmeared with Organic Virgin Coconut Oil

And I love the results.  The food came out excellent with a slightly sweet taste...which we all LOVED.  One cool thing to note (IMO) is that above 76 degrees Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil hardens to a solid but above 76 degrees it turns into liquid.  When Jet Pilot first pulled it out of the cabinet for dinner he was like "Oh great you broke it....it changed" !!  Such a joker.

Organic Virgin Coconut Oil in its solid state

Here is a more detailed description of the great products that I had for review:

"Tropical Traditions Expeller-Pressed Coconut Oil is a high quality refined coconut oil. This oil is processed the “old” way by what is called “physical refining.” Tropical Traditions Expeller-Pressed Coconut Oil DOES NOT  use solvent extracts. It is made the “old” way by expeller-pressed mechanical extraction. This oil is also NOT hydrogenated, and contains NO trans fatty acids. It is a very good quality food-grade coconut oil.

Tropical Traditions Organic Expeller-Pressed Coconut Oil is made from certified organic coconuts that have NOT been treated with chemicals or fertilizers. It is certified organic according to European and USDA standards. Our Organic Expeller-Pressed Coconut Oil is high in the medium chain fatty acids, such as Lauric acid. Organic Expeller-Pressed Coconut Oil is less expensive than Virgin Coconut Oil, and because it goes through a steam deodorizing process the taste is very bland, unlike Virgin Coconut Oil which retains the odor and taste of fresh coconuts."

Virgin Organic Coconut Oil in its liquid state (I know my Christmas bowl in September is classy you don't have to tell me!! LOL!)

I love that this oil is organic, better tasting and cleaner than most store bought oils.  My family while leary at first to try new "healthy" things, warmed right up to this product and now its definitely considered a staple in our home!!

Check out the Tropical Traditions Master Recipe list/blog for good tips and eats here

 BUY IT:

You can buy Tropical Traditions Products here

Choose “Referred by a Friend” and enter this ID: 6463294 (yes this is my referral ID #) and you can get a special Coconut Cookbook with your online order FREE!!      
  

WIN IT:
Tropical Traditions has offered one The Dill-io a quart of their Extra Virgin Coconut Oil to use and love in their own home!! 

MANDATORY ENTRY: Just leave a comment on this post and subscribe to the Tropical Traditions Newsletter here 

EXTRA ENTRIES:

• Follow The Dill-io thru GFC (+2 entries)
• Follow The Dill-io on Networked Blogs (+3 entries)
• Become an email subscriber of The Dill-io (+3 entries)
• Become an RSS Subscriber to The Dill-io (+2 entries)
• Become a fan of Tropical Traditions on Facebook (+1 entry)
• Follow The Dill-io on twitter (+2 entries) 
• Follow Tropical Traditions on twitter (+1 entry)
• Become a fan of The Dill-io on Facebook (+2 entries) 
• Add my button to your blog & leave a link  (+5 entries)
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to it in your comments (+5 entries)
• Tweet this giveaway (just hit the Retweet button at the top of this post!!) (+1 entry daily)

 Giveaway open to residents 18 years old+  residing in the US and Canada.  Contest ends on October 11th at 11:59 pm CST. The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be notified via email.  The lucky winner will have 24 hours to contact me. If you fail to contact me within the 24 hour period, a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: I received no monetary compensation for this review. I received products from Tropical Traditions for review but was under no . All information on Gain was obtained from literature sent to me or published online on their website.  All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

Gain "Sniff Sniff Hurray" & MyBlogSpark Giveaway

As a wife and mother I do A LOT of dishes. 

And I like things that smell good.  

So when I found out that Gain was releasing a new line of Gain dishwashing liquid soaps I was excited.  Now, everything you love about Gain is available for your dishes!

With four refreshing scents, Original, Lavender, Apple Mango Tango and Citrus Splash you can kiss the days of boring, unpleasant dishwashing goodbye! 

You might even find yourself saying, "Honey, I´ll do the dishes tonight." 

(Shock and awe I know. They smell that good.)  

I received the Gain Original Scent for review and I am really pleased with its cleaning power and I am UBER fond of the smell!!  I know Gain Dishwashing Liquids have "Gain"-ed a FAN HERE!!  (I know I am corny, but its okay to laugh at your own jokes right?)

Now on to the fun part!! 

  WIN IT: 

Gain and MyBlogSpark have offered 2 The Dill-io Readers a prize pack of a Gain T-Shirt (size L only), and a $5 Wal-Mart Gift Card (to purchase your own Gain Dish Soap with, or something else ;P). I am throwing a bottle of new Gain Dish Soap in there as well from my stockpile.  This giveaway is offered to US residents only, 18 years old+.

MANDATORY ENTRY: Leave a comment on this post telling which scent of Gain's New Dish Soap you would like to try!!  (with your email addy!)

EXTRA ENTRIES:

• Follow The Dill-io thru GFC (+2 entry)
• Follow The Dill-io on Networked Blogs (+3 entries)
• Become an email subscriber of The Dill-io (+3 entries)
• Become an RSS Subscriber to The Dill-io (+2 entry)
• Become a fan of Gain on Facebook (+1 entry)
• Follow The Dill-io on twitter (+2 entry) 
• Follow Gain on twitter (+1 entry)
• Become a fan of The Dill-io on Facebook (+2 entry) 
• Add my button to your blog & leave a link  (+5 entries)
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to it in your comments (+5 entries)
• Tweet this giveaway (just hit the Retweet button at the top of this post!!) (+1 entry daily)

 Contest ends on October 10th at 11:59 pm CST. The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be notified via email.  The lucky winner will have 24 hours to contact me. If you fail to contact me within the 24 hour period, a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: I received no monetary compensation for this review. I received Gain product, bubbles, t-shirts and Wal Mart Gift Cards from Gain and MyBlogSpark for review and was under no obligation from any person(s) or company to post a positive review. All information on Gain was obtained from literature sent to me or published online on their website.  All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

First Opportunity with CSN stores

So unless you have been under a rock for the past few years you have definitely have heard of CSN Stores.  CSN Stores are a collection of over 200 stores that have just about everything a chronic shopper like me could ask for.  Everything from coffee tables to tot sized Ferrari's (might as ride in style as a kid right??  LOL)

This is my first opportunity to work with CSN Stores and I have read on numerous blogs about how gracious and generous they are towards bloggers so in case you have not picked up on  it....that's major enthusiasm, excitement, and over joy in my words over the idea of working with such an awesome company.

I will be doing a review on CSN products, although I am not sure what yet...decisions, decisions.  There are a plethora of things that I "Need" ok, ok, things I "WANT".   Most likely I will get something that we can use for homeschool.  But maybe not...

Stand by to stand by for my review--its coming soon!!

AAAHHHH!!!

Thats 2 Blue Lines=Positive!!

WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!!! 

Dill-io BABY #3

Tenantive Due Date: May 2011  

I have some big news coming....

There is some big news coming....I have a HUGE announcement to make...stay tuned!!!

Rite Aid Shop for the week of 9/19-9/25

Quickie shop, I saw posted on this forum that the Flameless Luminaries were on clearance at Rite Aid for $3.99 and with the $4/1 coupon from the New Home Made Simple Booklets or 8/29 P&G's--can you say FREEBIE!!! 

Transaction #1:
3 Febreze Flameless Luminaries-- $3.99 each on 75% clearance

Coupons I used:
3 $4/1 Febreze Flameless Luminaries (my coupons were from the HMS Booklets, but there are some in the 8/29 P&G's I just didn't look close enough because I was in rush to get home after church!)

Subtotal:  -.03 cents
Tax: .84 cents
Total OOP: .81 cents!!
Totally worth it for some smell good!!!  I wish there was more than one Rite Aid in my area because I would stalk them all for some Free Air Fresheners!!

CHECK OUT THE REST OF THE RITE AID DEALS HERE

If anyone wants to stalk the Rite Aids in their areas and wants a few coupons just email me and I would be willing to part with some for a SASE.  Email addy in the PR/Media Kit tab!!

CVS Shop #2 for the week of 9/12-9/18

The sales for this shop are over but I wanted to highlight the deal only because I wanted to touch on travel size/coupons a bit.   Technically there are a ton of coupons that DO NOT exclude trial sizes, and there are a ton that DO.  I usually am not one to go for the travel size deals only because it always seems more hassle to me than its worth.  Tide usually releases a $1/1 any size coupon each other month and at some major retailers they sell the one load sample size in the travel size section.  Some people stalk this deal and snatch up 10, 20, etc..of these.
I do not.  Ever.
I don't think its a bad deal for those do, I do not think its misuse of the coupon to use it to purchase the Tide sample size, I just personally don't want to deal with a 3 ft stack of Tide samples in my laundry room.
But I will do the travel size game for some things.  Like face wash.
This is something nice to pass on to my family cross country and its nice for Jet Pilot when he go on his out of town cross country trips. 
I have read where some deal bloggers say that these companies will release these types of coupons for marketing/pr reasons to get people to try to their product, get hooked and buy full price big size.  Which I can sort of understand that argument.
In all honesty though, I dunno what I think-again I think its all about your comfort level.

Okay so enough of the blog fodder/soapbox here's the shop

Transaction #1:

7 Clean and Clear Face Wash-- .99 cents each

Bubbles-- .39 cents

Alive Vitamins for Women-- $9.99 (there was a coupon for these but I didn't have it)

Coupons I used:

$3/15 CVS q that I traded for on this forum 

(for some reason this coupon would not go through, cashier had to manually put it in and when she did she pushed it through for $5 off, not $3 off....I told her that because I am a huge believer in coupon karma but she said meh...so meh...then.)

7 $1/1 Clean and Clear also traded for on the forum

.99 cents ECB

$5.00 ECB adjusted down to $4.39 (she went to fast I wasn't able to do the math quick enough in my head to figure out how much I had to spend to use the full $5 value.  I hate to use less than the full value..I don't like to go lower than 3 cents below face value-yes I am that cheap.  But I guess I can't really split hairs over .60 cents...but still...in the mind of a couponer .60 cents is the non couponer's equivalent to like a $5 bill.  LOL)

Subtotal: 00.00

Tax: .55 cents

Total OOP: .55 cents on Money card so technically nothing!!

I still have a little less than a dollar on my money card so I will probably get one more week out of it and then I am back to my change bag again.  I carry a small sandwich bag filled with change into CVS and I pay with that every week.  Yes,  I think my cashiers hate me but I do what I do to stretch my husband's income to the very limit and make those coins my slave!!

Help....please??

Ok so I need to make a button for this blog...I love what I have but I think from a business perspective I should have the ACTUAL name of my blog on there.  (Please do not infer from that sentence that I am making vast amounts of $$ on this blog...cuz I am not...but maybe one day right?? Gotta be prepared for any situation!)

I have read about 200 tutorials on how to make one, got quotes from different sites to have a professional make one, and tried messing it with it on my own.
To no avail.
Everything I have tried looks WAAY wrong, corny, and lame or just not my style.  I like the buttons other bloggers have with the little avatar faces but that's just not me.  I am more understated and I have a big face...lol...so in all fairness and keepin it real if I were to do an avatar of my face it would be a big light brown circle with 2 eyes...and no room for any other features...those lil buttons are small..lol. 

If any other mom bloggers out there has a great resource or tutorial (paid or otherwise....I would like to go the free route but I understand people gotta make dollah bills so if you know someone who is a button maker extraordinaire then pls msg me-email is under the PR friendly tab or leave a site reference in the comments!!)

Thanks in advance for all your help!! Have a great weekend!!

MEGA Swagbucks Friday

Today is MEGA Swagbucks Friday--know what that means?? 

From the SWAGBUCKS site: 
"Every Friday is Mega Swag Bucks Day (MSBD), which means better odds of winning our BIG Swag Bucks denominations! Simply search naturally, and with a little luck, you'll be winning large bills starting at 20 Swag Bucks and up.

While this is NOT a guarantee that you'll win high value Swag Bucks, we invite you to visit our twitter page (http://twitter.com/swagbucks) on every Mega SwagBucks Day to hear from Swaggernauts like you who are winning big.

If you're a winner, consider tweeting a picture of your congratulations screen and including @swagbucks in your tweet. If TSG sees your tweet, he'll retweet it!"


What is Swagbucks you ask??


From the Swagbucks site:  "Swagbucks.com is the web's premier rewards site. Swagbucks.com allows web users to earn virtual currency by doing the things they do every day - search the web, shopping at their favorite retailers, and by engaging in other activities such as phone recycling, submitting polls, and completing special offers. Swagbucks.com is the only place on the web to get what you want without ever having to spend a dime."

You redeem your FREE digital currency for actual FREE stuff.  
All kinds of stuff!!  
If you have not signed up yet, then what are you waiting for...I have earned over $120 in Amazon Gift Cards since signing up a year ago!! Its a great legit program!! Sign up here!!
 
(FYI, yes that is my referral link...duh... ;P)

This is in no way a sponsored post.  

These are my own opinions and I was under no obligation from anyone to

write a positive review

Its Friday and I won an award!!

Thanks to Discovering The Mommy in Me for this award!

On to the rules for accepting this award...

1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have newly discovered.

3. Contact those blog owners and let them know they've been chosen.

Its Cindi S World

Short-Change

Down Roads Less Traveled

The Great Coupon Experiment

Kentucky Frugalista
(Love her name--I go by Frugalista is some circles as well!)

Miami Mommy Savings

June Cleaver Would be Shocked

Rita's Product Reviews

The Nutritionist Reviews

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Life with the Stevens

Welcome to my Melting Pot

Revied by Mom in Florida

Giveaway Blog Hog

Mommy Reviews

Winners Winners

Skoy Cloth Winner Number One is Comment #43:  

 

and 

Skoy Cloth Winner Number Two is Comment #28:

 

  

Winners have been notified and verified!! Thanks everyone for entering!! Please continue to enter all my giveaways and stay tuned for more awesome giveaways to come!!  Click the giveaways tab at the top and see what giveaways I currently have going on!!!

Wordless Wednesday

Winner Winner Winner

Winner of the Easy Lunchboxes Giveaway is.....

#64 Ashley Elaine!!

Thanks everyone for entering, 200 Comments!! WOW!! You all are sharing A LOT of The Dill-io LOVE!!!  Please continue to enter my giveaways, I have severeal great ones goin on now...just click the "Giveaways" tab at the top!!

Ok it's official I think I need an intervention

I mean it.
Someone needs to step in and slap me.
I have gone over the edge--with the dish soap.  I went to Wal-Mart, in search of the .97 cent bottles of Gain Dish Soap.
I know.  I know.  I am blushing as I type...and for a brown skinned Mexican girl that's not an easy task.  But I was on the tail end of my seemingly endless supply of Gain coupons and I could not pry them from my hot little hand. 
 So I went to spend the Gift Card I won here and get something for my kids, because they are good kids and I wanted to splurge on them.  Well when I got there I told myself "No I am not going down the dish soap aisle, I DO NOT need to go down that aisle..." but then we happened to peruse the girls clothes and that's SORT OF close to the dish soap/cleaner aisle so I seriously felt the pull of the universe to go down that aisle and just "check".  Bonnie just rolled her eyes when I said I want to go down this aisle "real quick", she may be young but she knows her mama has been stalking the dish soap aisle in every store we have gone into lately. 
Bad Idea.
They had Gain Dish Soap in stock.
A lot.  More than I have coupons.  Tons more. 
Call it animal magnetism, call me a crazy coupon stockpile hoarder, I dunno.  But I bought 12 more, and came home and traded the remainder of my coupons on my coupon trading forum I use.  (Check that forum out here if you are interested.  Its a smaller forum but I really like it.) 

There, its off my chest.
Still feeling embarrassed but I DO feel better that I traded the coupons.  It was like the curse of the lottery with those coupons.  I am glad they are out of my house. ; )

The Air Freshener I just bought because Jet Pilot was in dire need of some refreshment in his truck to get that "smell" out (imagine a fragrant mixture of a Jet Pilot who has spent the last few hours on overdrive with sweat glands, adrenaline and leather seats that only 2384793 other Jet Pilots have sat in before him doing heavens only knows in those seats, Jet Fuel, and Big Black Jet Pilot Boots )! Yeah, I welcome that home everyday...its nice. I love it.  I really do.  I just like to give him a hard time. 

Designer Cards Giveaway from UPrinting

As a relatively new blogger there are A LOT of things that I am learning.  New exciting stuff everyday actually.  One of the most important things I learned right away was to have a business card that represents your blog/persona in a positive light.  Whether its a "Mommy", "Blogger" or just plain ol' card...its important to just have a card.  It makes networking, marketing and cuts out the awkward fumbling for a pen and napkin when you meet some cool mom and her kids and that you potentially want to hang with again in the future. 


Besides, secretly it feels cool to whip out a card and hand it to someone, like you are a real grown up.  (I know for the SAHM like me who spends most days in yoga pants and a tee shirt it really feels jazzy to have a "card", dork, YES I know.  Lol.)  

Fortunately for you (and me,) UPrinting agrees. UPrinting.com Designer Cards, blogger cards and so much more… From marketing materials to personal cards, business cards have developed from the plain boring to a more modern and rounded corners, square cards and slim cards. Uprinting.com has some very cool and trendy designer cards that can represent just about anything and anyone.  They have a little something to fit everyone's style.  


Here is the best part, UPrinting.com is offering a sweet giveaway to all of you "The Dill-io" readers!! 

WIN IT:

1 lucky "The Dill-io" reader will win:

250 Die Cut Business Cards

2 x 3.5”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.75 x 3.5” (slim card)

Die cutting options available: Rounded Corners, Leaf, Rounded One-Corner, Half-Circle Side, Circle

Paper Type: 14pt Cardstock Gloss, Matte, or High Gloss; 13pt Cardstock Uncoated       

Color: 4Color Front, Blank Back; 4Color Front, Black Back; 4Color Both Sides      This  giveaway is open to US Residents only and ages 18 years old and above

Enter UPrinting.comDesigner Cards, blogger cards and so much more… From marketing materials to personal cards, business cards have developed from the plain boring to a more modern and rounded corners, square cards and slim cards. 

MANDATORY ENTRY: Visit the UPrinting site and let me know what product sounds the most interesting for you. Please leave an email addy in your comments so I have a way of contacting you when you win!!  

 
EXTRA ENTRIES:

• Follow The Dill-io thru GFC (+2 entry)
• Follow The Dill-io on Networked Blogs (+3 entries)
• Become an email subscriber of The Dill-io (+3 entries)
• Become an RSS Subscriber to The Dill-io (+2 entry)
• Follow The Dill-io on twitter (+2 entry) 
• Become a fan of The Dill-io on Facebook (+2 entry) 
• Add my button to your blog & leave a link  (+5 entries)
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to it in your comments (+5 entries)
• Tweet this giveaway (just hit the Retweet button at the top of this post!!) (+1 entry daily) 
• Follow UPrinting on Twitter (+2 entries)
• Follow UPrinting on Facebook (+2 entries)

This contest is open to residents of the USA. Contest ends on September 27th at 11:59 pm CST. The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be notified via email.  The lucky winner will have 24 hours to contact me. If you fail to contact me within the 24 hour period, a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure:  I will be receiving 250 Die Cut Business Cards from UPrinting.com for hosting this giveaway.  However, I have used their products in the past and I think they totally rock!!  All opinions in this post are mine and all information pertaining to UPrinting.com I received via their website and literature sent to me.  

CVS Shop for the week of 9/12-9/18

My shop this week was pretty cut and dry, I wanted to do some ECB Rollover so I just went for the items that generated ECB's that we would use.  When I walked in, right in front of the store there was some 90% summer clearance so I grabbed some stuff that I thought the kids would use.  I had no coupons for this shop, there was one for the Nivea Body Wash but I forgot about it until I was in the store so oh well.  Can't win em all.

Transaction #1:

Bubble Bonanza-- .49 cents

Nivea Body Wash-- $4.99 

Bubbles-- .25 cents

Gross Candy Corn for Jet Pilot-- .99 cents 

Energy Chews-- $1.99 

Coupons I used:

None (so sad to type that...lol)

$6 ECB's

Subtotal: $2.71

Tax: .54

Total OOP: $3.25 on my money card so really nothing Out on My Pocket

FYI, I tried the energy things this afternoon as a way to spark my Sunday lull in motivation and while I think it worked and I was like a maid on crack for about 8 hours...it tasted like dirt mixed with grapes...but I may try them again.  Also the energy chews are limit 2 not one like the ad says.  And the Nivea deal is spend $15 get $5 ECB too.  Good to know...maybe some good coupons will be come out to make it a better deal. 

P.S. I think the "Energy" type of Nivea Body Wash is not included in the deal since initially my $4.99 ECB did not print and I had to take the cashier to the see the signage in the aisle and she manually printed them for me.  So watch the type of Body Wash if you go in to do this deal. 

SOOO, YOU GET ANYTHING GOOD THIS WEEK AT CVS??

CVS Shop for the week of 9/5-9/11 Take 2

I know I posted about CVS for this week (you can read about that here) BUT I
had some time sans kids and husband so I decided to peruse CVS for deals, still no Schick razor coupons but oh well.  I need more razors like I need a third eye.  It was a random shop and I decided not to spend any ECB's just less than $1.00 in change out of pocket.  Well my plan worked, sort of. I got another $3/10 Grocery Purchase and I knew again I was going to apply it to my Sobe deal so I had $3 in overage to work with. After it was all said and done I spent less than a dollar but I had to do a return and get the difference put on a money card.  But it spends all the same so meh.

Transaction #1:
8 Sobe Lifewater-- $1.59 each
4 Dawn Hand Renewal --.77 cents each (I am soo loving that these are on sale, I wish I had more Dawn q's from the Home Made Simple Booklet but I KNOW I am just being greedy..this is just my favorite dish soap.)
1 Crest Toothpaste (on clearance)-- $1.22
4 Oral B Toothbrushes (on clearance)-- .94 cents each
8 Clean and Clear Face Wash-- .99 cents each

Coupons I used:
$3/10 Grocery Purchase CRT from Magic Coupon Machine
4 B1G1 Sobe Lifewater IP from here
3 .25/1 Dawn Dish Soap from HMS Booklet
1 .75/1 Crest Toothpaste from 8/29 P&G
4 .75/1 Oral B Toothbrush from 8/29 P&G
8 $1/1 Clean and Clear from ?? inserts (I won these coupons online so I am not sure what inserts these are from but you could check here if you are super curious..)

Now here is where it gets muddy, originally when I paid my OOP was $5.59, which I knew was wrong but I figured I would get my receipt, look it over and if I needed a credit or return I would get back in line.  The discrepancy was that my toothpaste rung up as $4.89 instead of $1.22 ($4.89 are they crazy?? Who pays that much for toothpaste..rich people I guess..lol).  So the girl refunded me $5.23 on a CVS Money Card and I re-bought the toothpaste at the correct price minus the q.  My total on that was .56 cents.  And I have $4.67 left on the card, this is how I figured my total was less than $1.00 OOP.  $5.59-$4.67= .92 cents!!

I know its not the most clear shop to post but I think its important that people see and know that all shops definitely get sketchy and when someone posts that all their shops rocked and were cake, that's just not realistic every single time you are in the store.  I don't CVS Shop hardcore like some of the people I follow online, I don't buy every single thing that generates ECB's each week, mainly because well, about half of it is junk.  In my opinion.  I think its great that some people rock the sales and have $89454 in ECB's each week but I am not one of those shoppers.  I like to go to CVS and challenge myself to spend mere change and get functional stuff we will use in our household.  Dish soap, body wash, shampoo, etc...that's why I CVS.   Food deals I usually pass on as well, because I can usually score better deals at the commissary, its different for everyone.  I used to buy everything at CVS that generated ECB's when I first started coupon-ing but then I realized I was not going to use half of this stuff so I stopped.

I think its important for all coupon-ers to find their niche with stores, some buy all, some buy very little, I like to think I am somewhere in the middle.  I work CVS deals at my comfort level, and that's a different place for everyone.  It took me months of working CVS to finally feel comfortable with shopping there.  Now its my favorite place to shop, so go figure.

I know this is random blog/coupon fodder but I just wanted to throw my .02 into the melting pot of coupon talk.  Hope I didn't bore you, and if I did just act like I didn't so you don't hurt my feelings... ;)

HAPPY CVS-ING!!

Glee Gum Review and Giveaway

Truth serum time.  Although we try to eat as healthy and organically as we can, we are all CHOCOLATE-A-HOLICS in this house!!  Even the little one.  So when Glee Gum extended me the opportunity to review their Make your Own CHOCOLATE Kit, I not only jumped at the chance I RAN CARTWHEELED, SKIPPED, you get the idea...it was definitely a sight.  Lol.

Ingredients

Jet Pilot mixing it all up so we can spread it on the pretzels

After the excitement faded the reality set in that I needed to make something EXTRA good with my all natural chocolate kit.

Here is some info on Glee Gum: Available in Make Your Own Chocolate, Make Your Own Chewing Gum, and Make Your Own Gummies, these activity kits are all-natural, educational, and eco-friendly. With pre-packaged ingredients and easy-to-follow instructions, everyone aged 8 and up gets a real kick out of making candy from scratch. Focusing on the history behind and the origin of these candies, each kit is designed to captivate your interest, connect you to the global community, and create something yummy to eat in the process!

Mixing elements of chemistry with world culture and history, this delicious kit contains everything you'll need to make 8 ounces of dark chocolate. Can be made on the stove or with a microwave - adult supervision is recommended! Great for class room activities, scout troops, birthday parties, home school, or after school. Makes a great gift for kids (ages 8 & up)!

Well Jet Pilot and I had a blast making our own dark chocolate and here is our final masterpiece!!  Thanks Glee Gum for the tasty opportunity and I plan on getting the other kits for the kids for the holidays!!

Finished Product (THANKS GLEE GUM!)

BUY IT:

You can buy Glee Gum Make your Own Candy Kits here

WIN IT: 

Glee Gum has offered one The Dill-io reader a Make your Own Candy Kit to make sweet treats in their home! This giveaway is offered to US residents only.

MANDATORY ENTRY: Visit the Glee Gum site and let me know what product sounds the most interesting for you. Please leave an email addy in your comments so I have a way of contacting you when you win!!  

EXTRA ENTRIES:

• Follow The Dill-io thru GFC (+2 entry)
• Follow The Dill-io on Networked Blogs (+3 entries)
• Become an email subscriber of The Dill-io (+3 entries)
• Become an RSS Subscriber to The Dill-io (+2 entry)
• Become a fan of Glee Gum on Facebook (+1 entry)
• Follow The Dill-io on twitter (+2 entry) 
• Follow Glee Gum on twitter (+1 entry)
• Become a fan of The Dill-io on Facebook (+2 entry) 
• Add my button to your blog & leave a link  (+5 entries)
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a link to it in your comments (+5 entries)
• Tweet this giveaway (just hit the Retweet button at the top of this post!!) (+1 entry daily)

This contest is open to residents of the USA only. Contest ends on September 24th at 11:59 pm CST. The winner will be chosen using random.org and will be notified via email.  The lucky winner will have 24 hours to contact me. If you fail to contact me within the 48 hour period, a new winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: I received no monetary compensation for this review. I received products from Glee Gum for review and was under no obligation from any person(s) or company to post a positive review. All information on Glee Gum was obtained from literature sent to me or published online on their website.  All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.