One of the hardest parts of going back to school, I think, is when you’re different from other people. It could be that you have freckles, or your hair is shorter or longer or you have a third eye. It could be anything different, but as we all know, the differences are what stand out. So when I was offered the chance to let my readers know about Percy, the Perfectly Imperfect Chicken, written by Rick Rieser, I jumped at it because it’s a wonderful teaching story without your children really realizing it.

Meet Percy. Percy is a Perfectly Imperfect Chicken – as we all are. Percy’s yard mates, i.e. the “perfect” chickens, find out that Percy isn’t so perfect and want to ostracize him for it. But Percy comes back and shows them that his differences are what makes him special and unique.

In reading this story to my daughter, she would ask me why the other chickens were mean to him, because she’d not been in a school situation, had never really experienced the “mean” crowd. Subsequently, I’ve also used the example of Percy when we’ve watched a movie or read other books with a similar theme, and recalled how Percy would have reacted or how he must have felt when that happened. It’s a wonderful example of tolerance and compassion to bring to the children in your life during Back to School season, when we could all use a little reminder – and there are no cuter reminders than Percy!

Percy the Perfectly Imperfect Chicken was written by Rick Riser, and was published at FastPencil.com, a site where you can write, publish and sell your own book!

I have a wonderful surprise, too! I have a copy of Percy, the Perfectly Imperfect Chicken for you to win.

Win!

Winning is easy, of course.

For each step you choose to complete, leave a separate comment. On September 3rd, I will draw a winner through random.com from all qualified entries. I will email the winner. They will have 3 days to respond. If they do not respond in that time, I will draw another winner. US entrants only, please.

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Comment and tell me what your favorite part of going back to school was.
“Like” my page over there on my sidebar
For 2 entries, go to RickRieser.com and tell me in 2 different comments the places that Percy hid.

Removed due to author site being inaccessible.

For 2 entries, join my new mailing list. This list is strictly to be notified of future contests and giveaways, you will not be spammed. If you do this, just leave 2 comments as well. You can join over in the sidebar as well.
Share this giveaway on Facebook.
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Tweet this giveaway by clicking on the Twitter birdie right here. You can tweet twice a day.

Do one, do all, it’s up to you!

Note: I did not receive any product or compensation for this review – I did it because we love the book and wanted to share it w/you, the readers.

My 5 things

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Aug 172010

Before I had children, whenever I’d meet someone’s children who were behaving badly, it would always leave me with a feeling that the parents had missed something vital in what they were teaching their children.

Those little lessons, however infrequent, have always stayed with me. When TwitterMoms asked us what 5 Important Things Our Children NEED to Know, I knew what my first one would be.

Manners! My children’s first words were please and thank you. As a result, they’ve always been complimented for their manners, even when they sometimes forget.
Looking both ways before crossing the street. We’ve always lived on busy roads, so it’s always been vital that they learn that immediately – as soon as they could *get* the idea. Even in parking lots and on our very quiet cul-de-sac, I remind them because you just never know.
Brushing their teeth. I’ve suffered endlessly with my poor oral habits, and so I have insisted that they have a better understanding of why they need to brush, not just a standard “BECAUSE”.
Name & address. Not every kid will always know this information, and I fear that it’ll be my kid that gets lost at the fair, store or mall and not know how to tell police where to find us.
Compassion. My kids have always been taught to look at both sides of a situation and to try and understand what the other person is going through in a conflict – or when we come across someone who is less fortunate than us – and look for ways to help.

Of course, only in a perfect world would my children REMEMBER these things all the time, but I like to think that with some gentle reinforcement, they’ll keep them safe, happy and loving.

Thank you to TwitterMoms for giving me the opportunity to reflect on these things. What 5 lessons would you want to instill in your kids?

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Nanny McPhee Returns blogging program, making me eligible to get a $50 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

My family loves ice cream. Any flavor, any form, they love it. One of their favorite brands is Good Humor. With a brand like Good Humor, you KNOW what you’re getting is good. It’s a dependable brand you can trust. The varieties they have means we can always find something that appeals to all of us.

My favorite is the strawberry shortcakes. I remember choosing those back in MIDDLE SCHOOL! We’d get ice cream a couple of times a week with our lunches, and I’d always pick those. I still do, despite the whole lactose intolerance thing, simply because they’re just THAT good.

Typically, I buy the multipack – this consists of THREE different varieties, which is perfect for the five of us. They contain “sundae” bars (nutty-buddy), vanilla bar (chocolate covered ice cream) and ice cream sandwiches. Perfect, right? BUT! When the ice cream truck comes around, my kids scramble outside and one might grab a strawberry shortcake, another might grab the chocolate éclair – and think they’re in 7th Heaven!

To celebrate their 90th Anniversary, Good Humor is having a HUGE celebration called the Good Humor Sweet-stakes. They are giving away 10,000 prizes!

All you have to do is pick up a specially marked single-serve Good Humor product. Choose from my favorite, Strawberry Shortcake, Chocolate Éclair, Candy Center Crunch or the Toasted Almond bar. Enjoy your delicious treat. When you get to the end, look at your stick. You might be an instant winner! There will be a special code on it. Take it to your computer, log on to Good Humor’s website and enter your code. How cool is that!? TEN THOUSAND WINNERS will win something from Good Humor – ranging from music downloads to shirts and hats. (Official rules are here.)

Good Humor is now on Facebook! Not sure where to pick up some Good Humor ice cream? They have a great locator tool >here<!

The Good Humor 90th Anniversary Sweet-stakes ENDS September 6th, so don’t delay. Go enjoy a special treat and help Good Humor celebrate 90 years. I know I’m going to!

PS – I hope if you win, you’ll come back and tell me!

Disclosure: Special thanks to Mom Blogger’s Club for this opportunity to review Good Humor and for the coupon for my favorite kind of ice cream – FREE!

I received a coupon for product in exchange for my thoughts on it.

Power a Bright Future

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Aug 122010

I was very fortunate to attend BlogHer ’10 this past weekend, and meet so many wonderful people. I also learned about a great many products and projects that are taking place and one of the ones I wanted to share with you, my readers, is Clorox’s Power a Bright Future grant contest.

Imagine a world without school sports, music or arts programs. Recently, nationwide budget cuts threaten to make this a reality. The Clorox Company understands that these programs can be critical to a child’s educational experience, building both academic and social skills. As part of the brand’s long-term commitment to schools and keeping children’s futures happy, healthier and shining bright, Clorox is launching the 2010 Power A Bright Future grant contest to help fund these vital school programs.

About the Power A Bright Future Grant Program

Power A Bright Future is a grant program aimed at providing necessary resources to help support school programs that enrich kids’ lives.

As part of Power A Bright Future, Clorox is calling on individuals to nominate schools in need for a chance to win a $50,000 grand-prize grant or one of three $20,000 grants to help provide critically needed resources to schools programs that enrich kids’ lives and create brighter futures.

In November, four schools will be chosen to receive grants and the opportunity to impact the lives of children in their communities.

How can I get involved?

There are two ways to get involved – by nominating a school program or by voting for your favorite nomination.

To nominate your school, visit www.clorox.com from August 12 to September 27, 2010 and upload a photo and a short summary of how the grant would be used. Choose one of three categories that best represents the program: Learn, Play or Create.
- Learn: Education-focused programs (e.g. establishing a school recycling program)
- Play: Sports and exercise-focused programs (e.g. building a playground)
- Create: Arts-focused programs (e.g. funding an after-school music program)
Once nominations are closed, visit www.clorox.com from October 5 to November 1 to vote for your favorite program. It is up to America to choose the winner!
- The program that receives the highest number of votes will be awarded the $50,000 grand-prize grant; the next top three vote-getters will each be awarded a $20,000 grant. The final Power A Bright Future grant winners will be announced on or around December 8.
To increase your favorite program’s chances of winning, vote early and often! Also, visit www.clorox.com for more information about the instant win games.

DISCLOSURE: As noted, I attended Clorox’s 2010 BlogHer session where I received free product samples and giveaways.

This giveaway has ended. See below for winner.

I seldom buy frozen “meals” – mainly because one package doesn’t feed my family of 5. But there are times when I do buy something that will only feed the two of us who eat seafood – my 7 yr old daughter & I. So when I was asked to take a look at P.F. Chang’s Home Menu frozen entrees, I said yes.

I choose the Shrimp in Garlic Sauce because – well, yum – who can pass up garlic AND shrimp in one meal, right?

I decided to prepare it on a night when I was pressed for time, but needed something that would fill us up. We were getting ready to go to the county fair, and you KNOW how expensive it is to eat at those places, so I needed something filling and fast – and easy as possible.

You cannot GET much easier than “open package and pour into a skillet”. That’s ALL you do. You cook it on medium-high heat for 10 minutes – and I have to say, the ingredients had my mouth watering. The vegetables – peapods, water chestnuts, peppers and carrots looked SO fresh! The shrimp looked delicious – and in 15 minutes, it was DONE!

I’d also prepared some stir-fry noodles to go with it, and threw them in at the last minute to coat with the yummy garlic sauce. We went to town! It was delicious. The vegetables held up to the heat and didn’t get all mushy, like some frozen meals I’ve used in the past. The shrimp was tender and the sauce itself was good – not too spicy, not too sweet. Best of all, it didn’t taste like a frozen meal at all. It tasted like take-out.

They take about 10-12 minutes to cook in a skillet without the addition of any other ingredients and there are eight varieties available including General Chang’s Chicken, Orange Chicken, Shanghai Style Beef, Shrimp in a Garlic Sauce, Shrimp Lo Mein, Sweet & Sour Chicken, Ginger Chicken & Broccoli and Beef with Broccoli.

Some company facts

Created with the expert chefs at P.F. Chang’s China Bistro® and produced and distributed by Unilever, P.F. Chang’s Home Menu is a new line of premium Asian frozen entrées that captures the bold flavors associated with P.F. Chang’s. With P.F. Chang’s Home Menu, fans of P.F. Chang’s can now conquer their cravings for its signature Asian cuisine at home, when they can’t get to a restaurant.

Made with high-quality ingredients and featuring intense flavors, the bold, frozen meals for two are convenient and easy to prepare, going from the skillet to a succulent restaurant-quality meal at home in just minutes.

Where can you get some?

You can pick up P. F. Chang Home Menu frozen entrees in your local market in the frozen meals section, but even better is that I have a coupon for a FREE P. F. Chang Home Menu frozen entree for one of my lucky readers.

Win!

Winning is easy, of course.

For each step you choose to complete, leave a separate comment. On August 20, I will draw a winner through random.com from all qualified entries.

Go to P. F. Chang’s website and browse the delicious options they offer. Then come back here and comment with the variety you’d choose, and who you would share it with.
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“Like” my page over there on my sidebar
Tweet this giveaway by clicking on the Twitter birdie right here.

Do one, do all, it’s up to you!

Note: I received a sample of the dinner described above in the form of a coupon.

and the winner is………………………………

Commenter # 12, Sandra! I’ll be emailing you!

Thanks for entering

Percy, The Perfectly Imperfect Chicken – Review & Giveaway!(closed)

Win!

My 5 things

Everyone loves the Good Humor man

Power a Bright Future

P.F. Chang Home Menu – a review – giveaway closed.

Some company facts

Where can you get some?

Win!

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