This Full House Reviews

Wintertime Craft: Froot Loops Cereal Bracelet Chain

Challenge here is to NOT eat them ALL before she's finished!

We did A LOT of crafts when my kids were younger -- give a kid a piece of paper, a crayon and a couple of glue sticks, well, you ARE the Queen (or King) of Distraction -- especially, around the holidays.

What is our favorite wintertime craft?  Well, I'm really glad you asked -- stay with me here, it's been a long winter -- two crafts that immediately come to mind are:  making paper chains, and stringing together cereal (or popcorn) and then hanging them outside (or on one of the trees in our yard) as a wintertime treat for the birds.

My friends over at Kellogg's created a really cool Pinterest board of Fruit Loops busy bags and crafts, basically activity bags that can be easily assembled to help kids encourage age-appropriate skills, like counting and sorting.

Although my kids are older (our youngest is 11) we still enjoy crafting together and then it suddenly occurred to me:  we NEVER did get around to making our paper chains or wintertime treat for our bird-friends, dangit.

Hope likes to coordinate her nerd glasses, for every occasion!

So, for this project, my youngest and I decided to incorporate our two favorite crafts together and created a pretty awesome Fruit Loops cereal bracelet chain -- here's how:

Pedigree Feeding Project: How You Can Help Choose Where to Feed Shelter Dogs, This Year!

I have grown up with dogs and cats all my life (oh, be quiet, it hasn't been THAT long) and I have a REAL special place in my heart for animal shelters and rescues.

So, when the good folks at Pedigree asked that I partner with them in helping to spread the word about their awesome project to help feed shelter dogs (and cats) how could I say no, right?!?

First, let me tell you a little about our Doofus-Dawg.

Doofus-Dawg, sometimes thinks he's a cat.

We adopted Doofus-Dawg from a local shelter here in Jersey:  he was found tied to a dumpster, suffering from malnutrition and some awful skin disease, at the time.  The shelter folks guessed him to be no older than a year and, judging by his inability to walk on a leash, without jumping straight up into the air, probably tied up or kept in a cage the entire time. 

Doofus-Dawg's grayed a lot over the years (me too, dagnabit!)

Doofus-Dawg (a.k.a. Pinhead) came home on November 28, 2005, which we have since celebrated as his "new" birthday, and although he still can't walk a straight line to save his life, Doofus-Dawg has found a safe, warm and snuggle-worthy place right here with us...in his forever home.

Which is the very reason why I am EXTREMELY excited to announce my partnership with the good folks at Pedigree as a Feeding Project Ambassador and had the privilege of being invited to the Humane Association in Nashville, TN for the filming of Miranda Lambert's awesome PSA, launched today:

 

Today, I am very excited to tell you that our friends at Pedigree will be expanding the Feeding Project in 2013 and they need our help doing it:  by nominating the community where you think the Pedigree Feeding Project can make the most difference in the lives of shelter dogs!  Here's how:

• Visit Facebook.com/Pedigree and click on the “Choose the Next Community” tab.
• Nominate your community. Submit stories of special dogs in your life, share photos and videos; Pedigree wants to know what sets your community apart.
• Share Miranda’s video with your friends and encourage them to nominate their community, too.

In March, Miranda and Pedigree will announce the names of the five communities that have been selected as finalists in the search.  America will then vote to determine the next communities to participate in the Pedigree Feeding Project. The winning communities will be announced mid-2013.

In the meantime, I will be sharing more information about my behind-the-scenes look at the PEDIGREE Feeding Project in the next couple of weeks and, hopefully, help give a little more insight into how you (yes YOU!) and I can help shelter dogs (and cats) find their new forever home!

P.S. Doofus says, "WOOF!"

© 2003 - 2013 This Full House

Disclosure:    I am honored to partner with Pedigree in helping to feed shelter dogs (like mine) and, hopefully, help them to also find their forever home.  I am being compensated for my services for the length of the program.

What Small Steps Are You Taking to a Healthier Lifestyle? #QuakerPopped {Sponsored Giveaway}

My sincere thanks to the folks over at Quaker for sponsoring my writing about a healthier lifestyle. Be sure to leave your comment for a chance to win a $1,000 gift card to help achieve your New Year's Resolutions.

I'm not a big fan of New Year resolutions:  a reminder of stuff  I never got around to doing, or failed to do right, the first time around. 

So, I decided to make a list of stuff I would like to do better, instead:

1.  Unplug on weekends and make time for family: my day job requires that I spend anywhere from 30 to 40 hours per week navigating various social media platforms, enough said.  So, I'm actually getting better at unplugging from all the online noise and learning to embrace being able to participate in several different conversations, at the same time, right here at home.

2.  Make time for myself, too:  raising 3 teens and 1 close enough, you'd think I would know how to do this, right?!?  I'm learning.

3.  Inhale.

4.  Exhale.

5.  Repeat. 

Not very enlightening, or thrillingly imaginative for that matter, I know.  Then again, sometimes even the smallest step can make a profound difference.

For example:  I also have this terrible habit of forgetting to eat lunch.

I've found that eating healthy snacks every few hours, rather than eating one large meal in the middle of the day, helps keep my energy up and, well, it just works better for me.

Another example:  Quaker® Quakes® are now Quaker® PoppedTM – a new name for the snack made with the delicious goodness of whole grain brown rice and corn and a great snacking solution.

Okay, now it's your turn.  What about you?  What small steps are you taking toward a healthier lifestyle in the new year?

WIN IT HERE:   Reply below for your chance to win a sample of all 14 flavors of Quaker Popped Rice Snacks and $1,000 gift card to help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions.

Thank you for visiting my shopping blog.  Be sure to visit and/or subscribe to my parenting & personal blog, ThisFullHouse.com (when you have time, of course!) or stop by and just say, "Hey!" 

We'll leave the porch light on for you, just in case.

© 2003 - 2013 This Full House

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Quaker. I received product in conjunction with this post. The opinions and text are all mine. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.  See Official Sweepstakes Rules

Book Review: The Good Life for Less by Amy Allen Clark

I first met Amy Clark at the first ever brand/blogger event hosted by Johnson and Johnson in 2008 and it didn't take me very long (or anyone else, having had the pleasure of hanging out with her for no more than 5 minutes, for that matter) to realize that Amy is just as engaging and emits this positive energy IRL as she does on her blog, Momadvice.com.

Truth be told, I had a little girl crush on Amy.  Honestly, in my eyes, she is the definition of a homemaker:  the woman cooks, knits and crafts the h-e-double hockey sticks out of...well...anything...and is still able to run a household, while sticking to a strict budget...while I, on the other hand, suffer from severe clumsiness and should NEVER be trusted with pointy objects or run anywhere, without access to a bathroom, close by.

 Still, it was her sharp wit and endless enthusiasm that drew me back to her blog, over and over again:  Amy NEVER fails to encourage her readers with practical and practicable advice.

The Good Life for Less: by my friend, Amy Clark

So, I was not surprised to learn that Amy was working on a book to share all that she's learned or that her gift of story-telling would also translate well to traditional print and was absolutely thrilled to receive a copy, for review:

Kelloggs Champions of Great Starts 2013 Program: January Photo-a-Day Challenge

Day 1: the last day of winter break, breakfast is served bittersweet. #GreatStarts

Last year was a roller coaster ride for us (what, you too?!?)  as nearly every family here on the New Jersey coastline was affected, in one way or another, by the devastation left behind by Hurricane Sandy.

So, truth be told, I'm not very sorry to see 2012 go and am totally ready for a fresh start.  You, too?!?  EXCELLENT!!!  Let's go :)

I am very honored to once again partner with the Kelloggs Champions of Great Starts 2013 Program in helping to initiate and participate in conversations about how to get families  (like yours and mine)  off to the best possible start, every day.

Why?!?  Well, at our house, we are big fans of Kellogg.  My pretend pantry (i.e. outlived its usefulness as a linen closet, since kids never seem to want to make their beds anyway) is filled with Kellogg's products and, as my kids get older (me, too) the brand continues to be a staple in our every day life.

I'm looking forward to introducing you to the rest of my fellow KChamps (moms and dads, who blog, like me)  as we get to know each other a little better, by sharing an important part of our lives:  nourishing and nurturing our families.

To kick-off 2013, I have accepted to participate in Kellogg's January Photo-a-Day Challenge and here's why: