This Full House Reviews

Nestle Family: So, Why Would They Want a Person Like Me to Go to Something Like This?

Yeah, I'm attending the #nestlefamily thing (as seen on Twitter) and it's like I told the guy, who drove me to the hotel, this afternoon (although, by the time I post this, it may be tomorrow, on the east coast, anyways) when he asked me:

"Why would they want a blogger, like you, to go to something like this?"

Well, pretty much for the same reason(s) why I went to Johnson and Johnson, Campbells, Kraft and General Mills -- to learn more about the products I buy for my family and, in turn, share the information with other families, like mine, too.

It's a community thing.

I have A LOT of Nestle products in my cupboard (not just chocolate, either) which, for me, makes for a very relevant story to share.

Am I blind-sided by the fact that they flew me out to California (which is a 5 1/2 hour plane ride from Jersey) and are waking me up at the butt crack of dawn, tomorrow (or, today) and have every 30 minutes of the next 2 days jam-packed with learning more about what they do and how they do it?

Um, no.

Quite frankly, it took me a whole week just to get my house and childcare in order, so, um, no, the blogging events that I've agreed to attend have involved quite a bit of effort on my part, actually.

So, why would they want a person like me to go to something like this?

Because, I am not an expert.  I am not a marketing guru.  I am no one special, other than a mom, who is just trying to do the best that I can, for my family, and that, my friends, is a learning process that should never be mastered.

In fact, I could probably be doing something more, I don't know. constructive, like sleeping, right now.

Personally, I can better relate to a self-professed screw up (like, myself) than the perfect little world, where moms are all, you know, happy and playful, when their kids make a mess, as seen advertised in traditional media.

However...

I do not represent Nestle; I am a consumer; their customer; they are presenting themselves to me and, in turn, hopefully, I will be able to share some useful information with you, too.

Using my own words, my own way, of course -- I hope that it is enough, for now.

© 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Club BK Giveaway

[CONGRATULATIONS, WE'RE SHARING WITH KRISTIE (COMMENT #30) PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS!!!]

With 4 kids in school, full-time for the last 10 years, my kids have brought home A LOT of books and quite a few of them have found their way back to the library, too.

 "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" is most definitely one of our favorite children's books and I was very sorry to have remembered to, you know, give back.

Then, the good folks representing Burger King (BK for short) sent us one and, well, we can't wait to see the movie and are super hungry to share it with you!

Why?

Weekend Specials: Brought to you by Inexpensively.com

My friend, Heather emailed me about this great project she's been working on and, well, in these tough times, I bet you dollars to donuts that even Donald Trump is cutting back on stuff, like, you know, hair cuts!

Inexpensively.com is a national network of frugal bloggers whose goal is to share their knowledge of living inexpensively.

"We work daily to help people across the country live their lives inexpensively. It's not just about coupons (although that is a large part of what we do), but about finding the things you want, for less."

The community currently networks in 4 states -- California, Georgia, Tennessee and Indiana -- partnered with  The Sassy Saver, Savings with Sadie, Luv2BFrugal and IN Good Cents to expand their reach and bring the personal touch that creates the best grocery lists each week.

Personally, I wish my friends at Inexpensively.com the best of luck in their efforts to blog it forward and really do hope that you take a moment to visit with them, a little, too.

Yours in frugality,

 

© 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved.

Glambassador Report: GlamAlert.com - Insider Perks, Freebies and More!

As the 2009 New Jersey Glambassador -- yeah, I don't know how that happened either -- I am very excited for the opportunity to keep you updated on the latest products in beauty and really fun events in the tri-state area.

The October issue of Glamour Magazine contains a coupon booklet with promotional discount codes, printable coupons and freebies to take advantage of this fall.  

[Offers vary effective through end of September and October 2009]

Can't get to the magazine rack in time?  No worries. 

You can also visit http://www.glamour.com/shopping and grab the promotional discount codes directly from their website. 

Also, check out Glamour Magazine on Facebook.

In addition to the savings found in-book, you can also visit GlamAlert.com, or download their GlamAlert widget and get the inside scoop your ownself, like:

Join Tim Gunn and Glamour at Bloomingdales at the Mall at Short Hills (NJ) on September 30th (Wednesday) to debut Kate Spade's fall clothing collection.  Visit glamalert.com for event details.

Happy Fall, to all yous guys :)

Recent Glambassador Reports

DISCLOSURE:  No payment was received for this blog post - just sharing some cool stuff courtesy of Conde Nast Publications and Glamour.com

[Please, clean off a chair and feel free to stay a while - subscribe to our feed or, if you really, really like me, then sign up for our free subscription updates and I'll love you forever!]
 

© 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved.

Open House Blog Tour - 31st Showing

My husband, Garth [not his real name] and I love attending open houses - especially, if it's a home that we've admired from the sidewalk, or wondered...you know...what the heck is going on in there? 

Welcome to the Open House Blog Tour where everyone (and anyone) is free to come and leave links (PG-13, please) telling us about your individual blogging events, fundraisers, giveaways, book tours, contests, or if you have a burning blog post and just need to shout out, go for it!

I mean, who couldn't use a little linky love?

Okay, I'll start:

Leave a link, or comment, if you'd like -- trust me, I know how busy you are -- and, don't worry if you forget, it'll be here, every Thursday linked permanently in my archives so, if you happen to stop by, whenever, just go ahead and leave your link; I'm easy.

ALREADY SHOWING: OPEN HOUSE BLOG TOURS

Happy blog hunting!

[Please, clean off a chair and stay a while - subscribe to our feed or, if you really, really like me, then sign up for our free email subscription updates and I'll love you forever!]

© 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved.

STICKY POST: Please scroll down to see newer blog posts!!!

Want to help me raise $1,000 for OUR local food bank?  Excellent!!

Lunchables will donate $5.00 per comment (up to $1,000) to The Food Bank of Monmouth & Ocean County, NJ -- go ahead and click for a good cause!

National Eat Together Week: Ways to Give Back as a Family

I know, I know, what with field hockey, soccer, girl scouts and back-to-school nights, as if eating together, let alone sitting down, was ever that easy, right?

Still, all four of my kids look forward to visiting my parents and celebrating, what they like to call, "Sunday Chicken Soup with Mama."  It's really one of the very few times when my family gets a chance to slow down and disconnect from all the crazy, just for a little while and, well, my mother's a wicked good cook!

Now, we get the chance to give a little bit of that warmth back by doing something nice, for someone else, for a change.

In fact, America’s pork producers, in partnership with Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief charity, are making it easy to “click for a cause”.

Beginning at midnight Sunday, Sept. 20, for every recipe printed or shared from the special National Eat Together Week section on TheOtherWhiteMeat.com, America’s pork producers will donate five pounds of pork (or about 25 meals) to a food bank in need.

So, how can we help?

Help Raise $1,000 for My Local Food Bank with Lunchables!!!

This Full House is proud to partner with the Lunchables team to help promote the Lunch Note Promise campaign.

Why?

Growing up, our family was no stranger to hunger.

Today, I'm not ashamed to admit that we lived a frugal life and that my parents chose to accept the charity of strangers, to ensure that their children would never know that kind of hunger.

Now, with 1 simple click, I'm getting the chance to give a little kindness back and would love to share it with you!

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP:  

The Lunchables team is asking parents and caregivers nationwide to promise to drop a note of encouragement into their child’s lunch.

For every parent that logs onto www.lunchnotepromise.com to make that promise, the Lunchables team will donate a meal to children and families in need through Feeding America, which serves an estimated nine million children each year. 

The goal is to turn 100,000 promises into up to 100,000 meals.

HELP ME RAISE $1,000 FOR MY LOCAL FOOD BANK:

• Make a promise on www.lunchnotepromise.com

• Leave a comment that lists what number the promise was – “I was promise number 12,003 on www.lunchnotepromise.com”

• For each comment, Lunchables will donate $5 to my local Feeding America food bank - The Foodbank of Ocean and Monmouth Counties – up to $1,000 or 200 comments!

Because, nice matters and hunger sucks!!!

DISCLOSURE:  NO PAYMENT OR CONSIDERATION, BESIDES A CHANCE TO USE MY BLOGGING POWERS FOR GOOD IN A CHANCE TO RAISE $1,000 FOR MY LOCAL FOOD BANK, WAS RECEIVED FOR THIS BLOG POST COURTESY OF WEBER SHANDWICK & LUNCHABLES]

[Please, clean off a chair and feel free to stay a while - subscribe to our feed or, if you really, really like me, then sign up for our free subscription updates and I'll love you forever!]

 

© 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved.

Book Review & Giveaway: Your Family Constitution by Scott Gale

We the [enter your name, here] family, in Order to create a more harmonious Existence, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the [enter your name, here] Family.

Sounds easy, on paper, right?   To be honest, other than earning stars on a potty-training chart, eleventy-billion years ago, we haven't had much success with keeping to-do lists.  By we, of course, I mean me.  Just one more thing to, you know, forget to look at.  

If you've got kids (like me) then you know, raising a family, while living in a world where it seems almost everything we do, or say, as parents, is put under a microscope, well, it's a little like going to war, every day, right?

Vered at Momgrind.com knows this and it's pretty much the reason why she asked if I'd be interested in reading Your Family Constitution by Scott Gale and, well, anything to help stop the whining, right?

By whining, of course, I mean mine.

Open House Blog Tour - 30th Showing

My husband, Garth [not his real name] and I love attending open houses - especially, if it's a home that we've admired from the sidewalk, or wondered...you know...what the heck is going on in there? 

Welcome to the Open House Blog Tour where everyone (and anyone) is free to come and leave links (PG-13, please) telling us about your individual blogging events, fundraisers, giveaways, book tours, contests, or if you have a burning blog post and just need to shout out, go for it!

I mean, who couldn't use a little linky love?

Okay, I'll start:

Leave a link, or comment, if you'd like -- trust me, I know how busy you are -- and, don't worry if you forget, it'll be here, every Thursday linked permanently in my archives so, if you happen to stop by, whenever, just go ahead and leave your link; I'm easy.

ALREADY SHOWING: OPEN HOUSE BLOG TOURS

Happy blog hunting!

[Please, clean off a chair and stay a while - subscribe to our feed or, if you really, really like me, then sign up for our free email subscription updates and I'll love you forever!]

© 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved.

Review Bloggers Monthly: Call for Submissions - October 15, 2009 Edition

After a brief hiatus, now that the kids are back in school, I am very excited to be accepting submissions for our next issue of the Review Bloggers Monthly!  Are you interested in hosting an edition on your review blog?  AWESOME!!!  Email me at thisfullhouse [at] verizon [dot] net and we'll hook you up.

It's no secret. I like getting stuff. I like writing about the stuff that we like and perhaps makes my family's life a little easier. Especially, if it works!

Or, I haven't managed to break it...YET!

Do you have a review blog or, perhaps found a product (or, service) that you really, really like, or just itching to share with other folks, like us?

[Click here to see past editions of the Review Blogger Round Up]

Want in?  EXCELLENT!  Here are a few things to remember:

Easy Cheesy Burger Casserole With a Twist and BIG BOX-O-KRAFT Giveaway

[CONGRATULATIONS, TAWNDA (#10 - 9/15/09) PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS!!!]

Congratulations, you just scored yourself a brand new fancy-type baking dish, now what are you going to do!?!?

Sure, I love to cook; when the moon is full, all the planets are aligned, tides are low and there's no soccer, or field hockey practice! 

"Raising 2 very active teens and 2 rambunctious tweens leaves very little room for fuss." 

At least, that's what I told the very nice people over at Kraft, when visiting their kitchens, where they were all, like, yeah, we've got kids, too. 

That's when I learned about the many cool new features on Kraft.com, like their budget-friendly recipes and cooking school, including how-to videos that even wannabe home chefs, like me, can follow.

I received a copy of Kraft Velveeta Crowd-Pleasing Recipes and a lovely Le Creuset 13 x 9 baking dish and Holy Hannah Montana, I've always dreamed of owning a piece from Le Creuset, but was never allowed to have one, since, you know, I break things, a lot.

So, I put them to the test -- I had about 15 minutes, in between field hockey and soccer practice, for a total of 30 minutes, to make dinner, last night, with stuff I already had at home, that my kids will, you know, actually eat. 

Ready...set...oh, wait...did I mention...there's this pesky little thing called work, too?

Eating Right Kids & Other Stuff Parents Can Do, Too!

It's no secret.  We are ALL trying to get our kids to eat better and almost everyone (and their mother) pretty much knows who Bugs Bunny is, right?

However, all 4 of my kids have about 20 minutes to eat their lunches (sometimes, including a quick dash outside for recess) and, taking into consideration that my youngest (she's 8) already 'fessed-up to swapping lunches, on more than one occasion, there's no guarantee that they will actually eat, what we packed for them, anyway.

Childhood obesity is no joke, I get that.  

Still, now that they're getting older, it can be difficult to find healthy options, when all they insist on eating is peanut butter (like, my 8 year-old daughter) or grape jelly sandwiches (like my 10 year-old son) if anything (like, my two teenage daughters) at all.

Let's face it, parents (like me) are just really tired -- seriously, we've graduated and become a two shopping cart family -- and some of us need some serious remedial help, too!

Enter, Bugs Bunny and Eating Right Kids, stage left!

Back to School $55.00 Savings Booklet From Kraft

Courtesy of Todd Rosenberg Photography

I was very excited to have been one of the bloggers invited to get a sneak peek into the Kraft Kitchens, last month -- actually, they knew we were coming and even made me wear an apron -- but, the best part (besides, the food) was being able to sit with the folks from Kraft and share quick, easy and healthy meal planning ideas for families, like mine.

It was nice to know that I am NOT the only one who has trouble in this area, or planning anything, in general, any more.

At our house?  Coupons are the new black and -- especially now, that we've had another unexpected yet major expense -- finding ways to save on food, which is one of our biggest expenses, is pretty much keeping us out of the red, at the moment.

So, I am very pleased to be able to continue the conversation and share the awesome stuff happening at Kraft.com!

Like, the Pack a Kraft Smile Savings Booklet and Calendar that the good folks at Kraft have put together.

It's a year-long savings booklet which they hope will help me and other families (like mine) save $55.00 throughout the school year!

The booklet is available online by registering at www.kraftbacktoschool.com.

[Note:  The offer is open while supplies last.  So, I registered this week.  When registering, you will be asked for your mailing address so that the booklet can be mailed directly to you and instructions said shipping can take 6 to 8 weeks.]

Why not get your dibs in, too?  Go ahead, I'll wait.

[No payments or products were received for this blog post, though my trip was paid for, I'm not under any obligation to write about stuff, you know, I don't want to.  Just passing along some information I find in my mailbox that you might like, too]

Check out other Weekend Specials and Reader Discount Codes

© 2009 This Full House - All Rights Reserved.

Paperspring: Fresh New Personalized Photo Greeting Cards We're Just Itching to Share!

[CONGRATULATIONS - WE'RE SHARING WITH:  Xenia (comment #20) please check your email for further instructions!!!]

I love blogging family pictures (taken with my dinky little point and shoot camera, even) because, I believe that snapshots into the everyday provide a tangible perspective to our story and, one day, will help us each remember the really good times, too.

The good folks at Paperspring.com know this.  How?  Well, in a recent email, they referred to me as, "the eye of the storm in a frenetic household," and I was all like, wow, someone should put that on a t-shirt, because I've been called a lot of things, but I like their description, the best!

Paperspring has been in the printing industry for 40 years, but just launched their new website (www.paperspring.com) allowing folks to personalize photo birth announcements, birthday and shower invitations, thank you cards and more, from the comfort of home.

They had me at "frenetic household," but were kind enough to offer a complimentary opportunity to order personalized stationery, along with a promotional discount code for our readers, along with a chance to share, by having us host a giveaway, as well.

Because, we roll like that!