Winnie The Pooh - A Childhood Classic In Theaters Now {Review}

When I heard Winnie The Pooh was going to be coming to theaters I was excited to take Hanna to go see it.  I loved Tigger growing up and in general Winnie The Pooh is a childhood classic.  Plus, as a mom, in this day with kids movies getting more PG than G, the thought of a good clean kids movie made me happy.  To create this big-screen adventure Walt Disney Animation Studios took inspiration from three stories out of A.A. Miline's books.  The story follows Christopher Robin's stuffed animals who come to life through his active imagination and have an adventure filled day together. Winnie The Pooh and his rumbly, growling, honey-loving tummy are joined by Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo and Eeyore to rescue Christopher Robin from an imaginary troublemaker.  While on their quest to find Christopher Robin, they are also looking to find a replacement tail for Eeyore and Pooh Bear is trying to fill his hungry and (completely adorable) growling tummy with honey.


photo courtesy of Disney
I was looking forward to watching Winnie The Pooh and expected to like it but, honestly, not as much as I ended up liking it.  It really is great for kids of all ages.  The movie is a busy, adventure-filled story that even has some laughs included.  Hanna, who's 5 (and a half), thoroughly enjoyed Winnie The Pooh and the ending even incited an out-loud cheer from her.  The film is only an hour and nine minutes, which makes it perfect for littler movie-watchers who might not have a long attention span.  It was so nice to see a movie aimed at kids that was not only packed with imagination, adventure, fun and silliness, but still totally wholesome and completely G rated.  As a mom, that makes me happy.  For right now, Winnie The Pooh will only be in theaters.  However, you can look forward to it coming to DVD this holiday season.  I would love to have this movie as part of our collection at home!



For more great movie reviews be sure to visit the Couch Critics page on Facebook.  Plus, check out the giveaway they are hosting - you can win gift cards and popcorn from Orville Redenbacher now through August 22!

Disclosure: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias.  As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Like & Win Social Battle - TONS of prizes to be won!

Welcome to the Like & Win Social Battle July giveaway event!   There are some awesome prizes to be won including Paypal Cash, a Pier One Gift Card and a Mamasource Gift Card.  The sites participating in the event are Simply Stacie, Makobi Scribe, Sweep Tight, Married to a Geek, This Lil Piglet, Sassy Mama in LA, Swagtastic Mama, Mommy Kat and Kids, Still Blonde After All These Years, and Thrifty Jinxy.



How It Works
The participating sites are competing among each other to see who can refer the most people to enter the giveaway. Each blog has put up a minimum $15 value prize and you get one entry for each page you like.

The winning blog who refers the most people to enter the contest doesn’t have to put up a prize, so the winner gets 9 of the 10 prizes after the winning blog’s prize is taken out.

To Enter
You can enter on the form below or visit my Facebook page.  Be sure to put that you were referred by Swagtastic Mama or your entry won't count and then like each page on the form.  Super easy!

The giveaway is open worldwide and starts now, 12 midnight EST, July 17 and ends on July 24, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST.





Disclosure: The prizes are being provided solely by the sites participating in the event.

Moms On The Go - 10 Tips To Make Your Life Easier #officiallatte

I know life can get crazy and hectic and sometimes it's those little things that all add up to make your life easier or more difficult when you are go-go-going all the time.  One of the tastiest grab-and-go coffees out there, Seattle's Best asked me to share a few things that I do to make things easier while on the run and I'm glad to share!

1. Plan ahead.  Take a few minutes to make sure you know what's on the schedule for the day ahead and you have clear idea of what all needs to get done.
2. Set out clothes the night before.  Having everyone's clothes picked out and ready to go makes the morning rush go so much smoother.
3. Have designated spots for necessities.  Put your keys, purse, cell phones, bags/backpacks, and shoes in the same spots so when you are running out the door you can grab and go.
4. Pack snacks.  When you have a lot to accomplish in a small amount of time sometimes thinking about food gets put to the side and then all of the sudden you are starving.  Keep some healthy snacks in your purse or bag for yourself and the kids so keep the hunger-monster away!
5. Carry a reusable water bottle.  Staying hydrated is just as important, if not more so, while you are on the run, especially in the summer heat.  Having a reusable water bottle on hand will make sure you keep up on your water intake.
6. Pack a backup phone battery.  (Or maybe this should be make sure you charge your phone, but I'm trying to be realistic here.)  There's nothing worse than when you are trying to get a ton accomplished and then you realize your phone is about to die.  Keeping an extra battery on hand makes it easy to switch out the dead one and keep on moving.
7. Take along a pick-me-up.  I'm all about the iced coffee in the summer but don't always have time to stop and grab one.  Seattle's Best Coffee makes 3 awesome flavors, Iced Latte, Iced Vanilla Latte, and Iced Mocha all pre-packaged in 4 packs or singles so you can keep some in your fridge and have them ready to take with you on the way out.
8. Prioritize.  Sometimes getting it all done in one day is just not realistic.  Prioritize your to-do's to make sure the most important things get done first.
9. Map it out.  Make a (mental) map of where all you need to go and try to do things that are located near each other at the same time instead of driving back and forth.
10. Stay connected.  I knew I would love having a smart phone but I totally underestimated how much I would rely on having one.  If it's in your budget to have a smart phone it's totally worth it.  You can multi-task while on the go and you have everything you need to know right at your fingertips.

I would love to hear your best tips that help you make things easier while you are on-the-go!  Tell me what works for you.

Oh, and print out this coupon and stick it in your purse so next time you're at the store you have it ready to go.  Click to save $1.50 on a 4 pack of Seattle's Best!

Seattle’s Best Coffee on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SeattlesBestCoffee

Follow @SeattlesBest on Twitter

Disclosure: I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Seattle’s Best Coffee blogging program for a gift card worth $30. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Fueling Fun with Murphy USA and Jacked Up Energy Drinks

The other night I had to run to Walmart for a few groceries and decided to top off the tank at Murphy USA while I was there.  I love that those two are right next to each other in the same parking lot, so convenient.  Anyway, I'm signed up for Murph e-Offers, Murphy USA's email newsletter that keeps you up to date on all of their deals and discounts that they offer.  Earlier this week I got a Murph e-Offer in my inbox with a coupon for a free Jacked Up Energy Shot so I printed that out to take with me.  Along with the coupon in the email there was a blurbs about two awesome contests from Murphy USA and Jacked Up.  The first is to win $20,000 cash or a Camero, which you can text or check-in on FourSquare to enter.  The other contest is a photo contest where you take a picture of a Jacked Up Energy Shot and Murphy USA (or Murphy USA signage) together and then the pic with the most votes will win $1,000 and one-years worth of energy shots!



So, coupon in hand I headed off to the store and to top off the tank.  There are 2 sets of Walmart/Murphy USA stores both the same distance away and I usually just go to one but I decided to be random and check out the other location instead.  Even though they were the same distance it definitely felt like it took a little longer to get to this one.  I'll have to time them both sometime and see which one is actually quicker.  I headed into Walmart and it was just as nice as the other Walmart location.  I grabbed the few groceries I needed and also picked up a Walmart gift card to use for gas at Murphy USA.  You do know that you can get 10¢ off per gallon when you fill up with a Walmart card now through the end of summer, right?  Yay for cheap(er) gas!



I was in and out of Walmart in a few minutes and then zipped right over to Murphy USA.  They always have some sort of free goodie as a reward for checking in on FourSquare so I've made it a habit to check-in while I'm there.  Plus, I wanted to enter the Dinero or Camero contest, too!  Sure enough, when I checked in I earned myself a free Jacked Up Energy Shot and an entry into the contest.  Nice!  I got the pump set to fill up the tank at 10¢ less than the regular price with my Walmart gift card and then headed over to the cashier to get my energy shot.  I already had the coupon I printed out from the email though so I just used that one.  (I wonder if I could have used both and gotten 2 free energy shots?)  Then I made sure to snap a pic of my Jacked Up Energy Shot with a Murphy USA sign so I could enter the photo contest when I got home.





Once I got home I gave the energy shot to Nick, who works 12-9 AM.  (If I drank one, I'm sure I'd get a lot accomplished with all that energy but I'd also have a Jacked Up 13 month old since he's still breastfeeding.  Yeah, I'll pass on that!  Totally perfect for my husband who works all night though.)  Then I went to FuelingFun.com to enter the photo contest.  Entering was quick and easy, I just put in some basic information and then chose my picture file to upload and hit submit.  Done!  It said photos may take up to 24 hours to appear in the voting lineup.  But once you see your pic up there you can send all your friends over to vote for you.  *wink, wink, nudge, nudge*



So are you going to give me some competition in the contests or what?  If you upload one of your pics leave me a comment letting me know which one is yours and I'll be sure to go give you a vote!  Oh, and be sure to 'like' Murphy USA and Jacked Up Energy Drink on Facebook to keep up with the latest.

Disclosure: This shop/project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Nestle Lil' Drums at The Walmart Ice Cream Social #theicecreamsocial

So how many of you made it to The Walmart Ice Cream Social last night? The event was from 5:30 - 8:30 pm and we headed over around 7. It was just in time, the Nestle Lil' Drums ice cream cones they were handing out were so popular our ice cream cones came from the next to last box and then they had to end early.  When we got there there was a crowd around the Bright Ideas station where they were giving away the cones and there were a constant stream of people giving them a try.



Once we made it up to the stand Hanna asked for a vanilla cone the lady let us know that they were the first to go and they had Cookie Dough and Chocolate Fudge Brownie.  Um, YUM!  They sounded good but I wasn't sure if they would really be as good as the Classic Vanilla Drumsticks, you know the ones dipped in chocolate with a coating of peanuts.  Hanna and Nick went for the Cookie Dough and I tried the Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

They both loved theirs, I should have sneaked in a taste.  Mine was awesome, too.  We even let Oliver have some tastes, he loved them both.  He's only tasted ice cream once before and it was vanilla.  First chocolate!

The Nestle Lil' Drums were a total hit with everyone.  I loved their size.  They were perfect as treat that was kid-sized but also big enough to satisfy my ice cream craving.  At only 140 calories they won't crush a diet either. I asked the lady giving out the samples if they were popular and she told me yes, they actually sold out of them in a flash.  I was bummed, I really wanted to buy a box while we were there.  We headed down the frozen treat isle anyway and I picked up a box of the favorite Classic Vanilla Drumsticks.  I'm going to be sure to check and see if the Lil' Drums are back in stock next time I'm there though.




We picked up a few more groceries and headed home.  As we were leaving I noticed the 10¢ off per gallon of gas display.  This Walmart doesn't have a Murphy USA near it but there are a few others around.  The Walmart Ice Cream Social was a fun addition to our shopping and it was great to find a new treat that we all liked!

Disclosure: This shop/project has been compensated as part of a campaign for Nestlé. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Walmart Ice Cream Social Event - July 2nd #theicecreamsocial

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!  Did you know that Walmart has in-store events every week that feature new products?  Be sure to stop by your local store tomorrow, Saturday, July 2nd, for a fun event, The Walmart Ice Cream Social!  From 5:30 - 8:30 pm there will be samples of ice cream favorites from Nestle. I'm sure you'll have to run to the store for something anyway (I know I always do) and you can enjoy a little treat while you're there.  Check here and see if The Walmart Ice Cream Social event is happening at your store.

(Source)

Disclosure: This shop/project has been compensated as part of a campaign for Nestlé. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.