Wordless Wednesday - Memorial Day Weekend

Evan

Hubby

My brother

Yeah, we're still working on "gentle".

 

EdenFantasys For Father's Day

**Do not click on any of these links if someone is in the room. This post is very "PG", but the links are not meant for anyone who is not an adult.**

I'm sure you're brain is turning as you're trying to think of the perfect gift for your kids to get their dad, but have you thought about getting him a special gift just from you? My husband is a rockin dad and works hard so that I can stay home with our kids. I know that he would appreciate any gift from EdenFantasys.

If you've never heard of them, EdenFantasys is an adult store that has everything you can think of for a romantic night at home. If you're like me, you've probably never even heard of half the stuff on their site. Many of the items have reviews from real people and there is even a forum if you have any questions. Right now they have 20% off many items and there is free shipping on orders over $59! They send all of their items in a non-branded box - even the shipping label is generic! Shipping is really fast, but check them out soon because Father's Day is right around the corner.

I was given a gift card for this post. Honest opinions were used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others.

 

Got Giveaways? 5/31

I'm so sorry guys! The long weekend got me all confused and I totally forgot today is Tuesday! :) I hope everyone had a fun and safe weekend.

I have a lot to catch up on and the Surviving Summer event is still in full swing!

Got Giveaways? Link up! It'd be great if you could tweet about this link up or post my banner on your blog.

Check out my giveaways while you're here!

Hoover MaxExtract60 Carpet Cleaner ($230 ARV) 6/27


Bumbleride Natural Edition Indie Stroller ($480 ARV) 6/13 US/CAN


$50 RedEnvelope Gift Card 6/13


DownEast Basics Swimsuit Of Choice 6/13


Big Rig Buddies™ Scrap Yard Adventure Playset 6/6


$50 Kids Foot Locker Gift Card 6/6

Stork Craft Hoop Glider ($200 ARV) 6/6 US/CAN
























My Baby Clothes Boutique Gift Card 5/30


Two Person Water Tube 5/30 $280 ARV
























No Affiliate Links. Link up to your giveaways, NOT other posts or your linky.

Please link to the specific post for each giveaway-NOT just your blog! I will delete your link if it does not go directly to the giveaway.

***CLICK HERE for my Daily List of blogs with giveaway linkies.***

 

Cottonelle Moist Wipes + $1 Coupon

I had never tried using the moist flushable wipes until recently. Cottonelle opened my eyes to how much easier potty training would be with them. They're similar to baby wipes - but better because they can be flushed!

Cottonelle reintroduced their Get Fresh With A Friend campaign so that you can share the joys of moist wipes to your friends. They are offering $1 off coupons to consumers so that they can try the wipes. If you're into coupons like I am, you know that stores often have them on sale and the $1 off would make them super cheap! Cottonelle sent us a pack of their toilet paper along with their Flushable Moist Wipes including an EasyReach hanger (free with each package for a limited time in stores). The hanger features 3M Command adhesive strips for easy installation and it makes adding flushable moist wipes to your daily routine that much easier.

Not only are these fantastic for potty training, but they're perfect for anyone. There is a reason baby wipes are moist - they make wiping 10x easier. Cottonelle Moist Wipes are thicker than baby wipes and are easy to use for any age. They personally make me feel cleaner and give me peace of mind that my two small children have been "wiped well". I wish that I would have started using these much sooner - I now have no idea how we lived without them! With the EasyReach hanger, They can be attached over the toilet paper roll for easy access.

Visit Cottonelle to learn more and to snag the $1 off coupon!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Cottonelle and received product and a promotional item as a thank you for my participation.

 

Spring Cleaning - Hoover MaxExtract 60 Pressure Pro Carpet Cleaner Review + Giveaway

We built this house about 5 years ago before we had any kids. We ignorantly chose a beige colored carpet for our living room and bedrooms. Two kids and a million sippy cup leaks later, our carpet has seen better days. We used my mom's old carpet cleaner pretty often, but some of the stains wouldn't budge. I was asked to be part of the Hoover Insiders group, and even though I had to turn it down, they still allowed me to put the Hoover MaxExtract 60 Pressure Pro Carpet Cleaner up against our stubborn stains.

This easy-to-use machine removes water, dirt and grime with pressurized cleaning, and has heated drying for a fast dry time.

Features a double chamber nozzle to power wash surfaces with even suction across a wide path, while the automatic detergent system provides the right ratio of detergent and water for the best cleaning results.

Patented Hoover® SpinScrub® brushes gently loosen dirt and clean all sides of carpet and upholstery fibers, with an adjustable speed control for various floor surfaces, including a Spill Pick-Up mode so you don't scrub in spills. 

Features:
- MaxExtract® DualV® Nozzle Technology – we’re pulling up a lot of dirty water so your floors dry fast and you’ll be back to living on those deep-cleaned floors quickly.
- Pressurized Edge-to-Edge Cleaning – a wall of pressurized water that loosens and lifts stubborn stains with constant and relentless spray.
- SpinScrub® 60 – 60 counter-rotating brushes engineered to surround carpet fibers, removing dirt at every angle. It’s like treating your carpet to a deep, massaging salon shampoo treatment.
- Heated Cleaning – powerful motor with forced heated air to help speed dry time.
- Auto Conversion Tools – conveniently positioned where they should be – right at your fingertips.
- SmartTanks™ System – separate tanks for clean and dirty water, so you can easily fill, empty and rinse each tank individually.

Includes:
- 16 oz Bottle of 2X Professional Strength® Carpet & Upholstery Detergent
- 9′ Clear Hose
- Upholstery Tool

I want to start off by saying I'm totally embarrassed to show this next picture.  The kids had spilled something here and I knew the MaxExtract60 was on its way, so I left it to show a before and after.  We had a bottle of regular strength hoover cleaner on hand already, but used the bottle of Professional Strength cleaner since the spill was so bad.  I can't sing enough praises about the Professional Strength-I swear that stuff would get any stain off of any carpet!!  I went to the store to stock up, but didn't see any, so I guess I'll have to get it online.

Here is the MaxExtract60 in action. My husband and I were immediately in awe. This cleaned 10 times better than the older model that my parents own. It seriously cleaned every single stain that we had and no stains "reappeared" the next day!

This is a large section of my living room. This is the room that we're in most of the day and the poor carpet has suffered many stains. Those stains were no match for the Hoover MaxExtract60 Carpet Cleaner!! Look how clean this is - no stains whatsoever!

We were so excited that we decided to do other rooms too and quickly ran out of the Professional Strength Cleaner. The cleaner did well with the regular strength, but the Professional Strength is the ticket! We're actually in the process of trying to sell our house and one of the biggest things I was worried about was the carpets. The Hoover MaxExtract60 actually has heated cleaning so that it drys faster. We turned on the fans and the carpet was completely dry within a few hours. This Carpet Cleaner is going to help me keep my beige carpets looking brand new while having our house up for sale.

We also have carpet going up our stairs.  We cleaned at night so I couldn't get a great picture, but it did wonderfully.  The MaxExtract60 is just so easy to use and cleans even hard to reach areas.

If you have any carpet in your house, I strongly suggest trying out the Hoover MaxExtract60 Carpet Cleaner and Professional Strength Detergent. There is even an instruction video to learn how to use it. Visit Hoover to learn more and to view their other products.

Win It

Hoover is giving one of my readers a MaxExtract60 Carpet Cleaner.

To enter, visit Hoover and tell me another product that you'd like to try. This is required and must be done before the extra entries count!

Extra Entries

You can do any of these things for an extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for EACH thing you do.

1- For TWO extra entries, subscribe to my blog via email.

2- Follow my blog via google friend.

3- For FIVE extra entries, blog about this giveaway and link it back to this post and Hoover.

4- Follow twoofakind AND Hoover on twitter and tweet about this giveaway. You can Tweet once a day for an extra entry every day! You can copy and paste: WIN a @HooverClean MaxExtract60 Carpet Cleaner ($230 ARV) during #SurvivingSummer @twoofakind http://tinyurl.com/3zyczjf #giveaway

5- Become a fan of/like Hoover on Facebook. I'm sure they'd appreciate some comment love while you're there.

6- Vote For me on Picket Fence Blogs. You can do this for an extra entry each day.

7- Include a link to this post in your facebook status letting your friends know you entered this giveaway. Leave your first and last name(or initial) in a comment below. If you tag me (@Dee Twofakind or @Two Of A Kind, Working On A Full House), I can actually see your status on facebook. You can do this 1x per day for an extra entry each day.

8- Put the Surviving Summer Event Button on your sidebar.

9- Follow me on Networked Blogs.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on June 27th when I will draw a winner at random. PLEASE leave your email address if it is not visible on your profile. I will notify the winner and they will have 48 hours to respond!

Open to US Only!

This was not a paid post and honest opinions were used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others. Thank you to the company and/or pr agency who supplied the product for review and giveaway.

 

Aloha Friday

It's Aloha Friday over at An Island Life! Answer my question and make sure you post one on your blog. After that, go relax because today is Friday!!

What do you put on your hamburger?
I like cheese, ketchup OR honeymustard, pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes.

 

Lemon Poppy Seed Scones Recipe

I adore baking, but I've never once made scones. I've honestly never cared to until I got an Alice's Tea Cup cookbook in the mail many months ago. I happened to have some lemons that needed to be used and I remembered there was a Lemon Poppy Seed Scone Recipe in that cookbook.

Ingredients-
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ stick of unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 tablespoon plus ¼ teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream (for brushing)
¼ cup sugar (for brushing)

Instructions-
1.Preheat oven to 400
2. In large mixing bowl, combine the four, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. With clean hands, work the butter into the dry mixture until it is thoroughly incorporated and has consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Add 1 tablespoon of the zest and the poppy seeds, and mix until the zest and poppy seeds are evenly distrusted.

4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour the buttermilk and vanilla extract into the well. Combine the ingredients until all the dry mixture is wet, but do not knead!
5. Turn mixture onto a floured surface and gather the dough together. Gently pat the dough to make a rectangle about 1 ½ inches think. Using a dough cutter, cut the scones into wedges measuring them about 3 ½ x 4 inches, and lay them on a nonstick baking sheet. Gather the remaining dough together lightly to cut out more scones - but do not knead.

 6.Stir the remaining ¼ teaspoon lemon zest into the heavy cream. Brush the top of each scone liberally with this mixture, and the sprinkle with sugar.

 7. Bake the scones for about 12 minutes, or until lightly browned.

These were fairly easy to make and tasted great. I know it'd be more like a muffin, but I'm going to make a lemon glaze to put on top of these next time - YUM! :) I have some buttermilk that has to be used by the end of the month so I plan on making more scone recipes to share with you - they're addicting!

 

Father's Day With RedEnvelope Review + Giveaway

Father's Day is always so hard for me. My dad's birthday is at the end of April, so I've just used all of my gift ideas for that and can't think of a single thing to get him for Father's Day. My husband and dad both just buy whatever they want which leaves me with nothing to work with. Luckily, I have RedEnvelope to give me some great ideas for gifts Dad will love. After checking out their fantastic selection, I finally decided on the Wireless Talking BBW + Oven Thermometer.

The best chefs always leave a little room for improvisation in their recipes, but not when it comes to timing. Getting the meat done to perfection is a must. This digital thermometer is as smart as they come and alleviates the need for hovering over the stove or grill. They just enter the cut of meat or program a temperature or level of doneness and the thermometer announces when it's done.









Features:

• digital LCD screen
• features five languages, eight entrée programs, four doneness levels for beef, and four verbal and audio alert options—"almost ready," "ready," "overcooked" and "out-of-range"
• customized temperature settings allow for adjustment to specific temperature regardless of meat type
• main unit measures 2 3/4" x 1" x 5 1/2"
• sensor unit measures 3 1/2" x 1 1/4" high
• stainless-steel meat probe measures 7" long

The Wireless Talking BBW + Oven Thermometer is definitely a gift for the dad who has everything. My husband is the "grill master" at our house and even though he has some super cool gadgets, this is one that I know he will love.

As parents, you have to be good at multitasking, but sometimes its just not that easy.  We often start playing with the kids while grilling or cooking and our meat will occasionally get too done.  We'll never have to worry about that again because the Thermometer alerts us to when it is at the perfect temperature.

If you're having a hard time with ideas, visit RedEnvelope to order Father's Day gifts!

Win It

RedEnvelope is giving one of my readers a $50 Gift Card.

To enter, visit RedEnvelope and tell me what you would get with your $50. This is required and must be done before the extra entries count!

Extra Entries

You can do any of these things for an extra entry. Make sure to leave a separate comment for EACH thing you do.

1- For TWO extra entries, subscribe to my blog via email.

2- Follow my blog via google friend.

3- For THREE extra entries, blog about this giveaway and link it back to this post and RedEnvelope.

4- Follow twoofakind AND RedEnvelope on twitter and tweet about this giveaway. You can Tweet once a day for an extra entry every day! You can copy and paste: #WIN a $50 @redenvelope Gift Code during #SurvivingSummer @twoofakind http://tinyurl.com/3m3x49d #Father'sDay

5- Become a fan of/like RedEnvelope on Facebook.

6- Vote For me on Picket Fence Blogs. You can do this for an extra entry each day.

7- Include a link to this post in your facebook status letting your friends know you entered this giveaway. Leave your first and last name(or initial) in a comment below. If you tag me (@Dee Twofakind or @Two Of A Kind, Working On A Full House), I can actually see your status on facebook. You can do this 1x per day for an extra entry each day.

8- Put the Surviving Summer Event Button on your sidebar.

9- Follow me on Networked Blogs.

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on June 13th when I will draw a winner at random. PLEASE leave your email address if it is not visible on your profile. I will notify the winner and they will have 24 hours to respond!

Open to US Only!

This was not a paid post and honest opinions were used. The opinions are solely my own and may vary from others. Thank you to the company and/or pr agency who supplied the product for review and giveaway.

 

Wordless Wednesday - A Difference That A Year Makes

This first picture was taken just over a year ago. When the kids were playing with that same tonka truck on that same slip n slide this morning, I had to grab a camera for a comparison. LOL, Evan still has that same concentrated face though. :)

...And this year Isabella just had to push Evan.

 

SEVEN Winners

Here are the SEVEN Winners from the giveaways that ended Monday.  There are several current giveaways still listed on my sidebar, and I have more fantastic ones coming up soon - be sure to check in often!

The $50 HearthSong Gift Card giveaway had 1,515 comments and the winner is:
A Red Fern

The Growums Garden Kit giveaway had 644 comments and the winner is:
Wigget

The $200 Amex Gift Card + Country Crock Prize Pack giveaway had 4,077 comments and the winners are:
$200 AMEX - Rhonda
Prize Packs - Lauren
                  - sweetpea08

The $50 For Dresses At Nancy August giveaway had 461 comments and the winner is:
Kelly

The Teacup Piggies Playset giveaway had 321 comments and the winner is:
moushka

 

Pedigree Ambassador - Last Check In

As part of the Pedigree Ambassador program, we switched our 1 year old black lab, Darla, over to Pedigree Dog Food last month. I have since shared a puppy picture and then a picture from last year. Here is the most current picture I have of her - from a week ago.

They asked us to use the Four Universal Needs (Skin & Coat, Oral Care, Digestion, Immunity) to judge how Darla was handling the switch. I honestly haven't seen any change. She rocked all of those universal needs before, and is still doing great after being completely switched to Pedigree for several weeks.

The large dog breed brand food that we were using before was much smaller, but the larger Pedigree food doesn't seem to phase Darla(You see the size difference above). She eats parts of my chairs, so even though her new food is larger, she gobbles it down just as easily. Pedigree is less expensive than our old brand and Darla is doing very well with it, so we will continue feeding her Pedigree.  I would definitely recommend switching over to anyone who wants to help their dog stay healthy.

Be sure to follow Pedigree on Twitter @PedigreeUS and Facebook:  Pedigree Adoption Drive Facebook page to learn more.

I wrote this review while participating in an Ambassador campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Pedigree and received dog food to facilitate my reviews and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

 

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Great Outdoors On DVD May 24th

We were first introduced to the Mickey Mote last year and my son still loves to use it. It is his own special remote that he gets to use to answer questions about what is happening in the movie. He was thrilled when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Great Outdoors showed up at our house. Disney has packaged Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Great Outdoors to include a DVD, a Digital Copy and a Mickey Mote –making this the ultimate Play Set.

Episode List:
All-New, Never-Before-Seen Bonus Episode:
• Mickey’s Fish Story - Daisy wants to find a fishy-friend for her goldfish Goldy – and we help her find other goldfish in the Jungle where we’re aided by the mysterious conga drummin’ Jungle-Pete! Boom-boom-bap-boom!
Episodes From “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” TV Show:
• Mickey’s Camp Out - Today Mickey and his friends are going to earn Clubhouse “Camp Out Badges” by completing two tasks - setting up camp and fishing for Gummy Fish. Everyone’s planning to camp with a “Tent Buddy”, but Donald decides to camp by himself – and he soon learns that camping with friends is much more fun than camping by yourself.
• Mickey and Minnie’s Jungle Safari - Minnie is determined to snap a photo of the rare Hula Hibiscus that only blooms once a year. So the sensational gang go off on a jungle safari and explore new territory to find this legendary flower.
• Daisy in the Sky - On Balloon Day, Daisy grabs a large batch of balloons and gets literally carried away along with Minnie and Pluto, who couldn’t hold her down. Mickey, Donald and Goofy kick into high gear to save their friends: they use a Giant Candy Cane (to rescue Pluto), a Party Horn (to warn animals out of the way), a Piggy Bank (to weigh down one side of an elevator so that Mickey can reach the top of the lighthouse), and a Toy Hammer (to fix the Ferris wheel).
• Daisy’s Grasshopper - Daisy has a new pet grasshopper named Wilbur, but the playful hoppin’ fella hops away – and we help all our Clubhouse friends hop after him and find him before the end of the day. Boing-boing!

About Disney's Mickey Mote:
Disney’s Mickey Mote works with any Disney Preschool DVD that includes the Discovery Mode™ feature – an interactive “Watch & Play” feature on the DVD. All parents have to do is program the remote control - there’s an easy and quick set-up guide in each DVD - and select the Discovery Mode feature on the menu screen. Within minutes, kids will be easily able to respond to questions about scenes they just watched by pressing one of four color-coded buttons on the device -- a yellow star, green circle, orange triangle or blue square – to click in their responses. Discovery Mode features include two levels of play, which provides more challenging questions as the child grows. To date, there are more than 13 Disney Preschool DVD titles for parents to choose from that can be used with the remote control.

The kids watch Mickey's Mouse Club House almost every day, so Evan immediately noticed that one of the Episodes was a new one. Our family loves to camp, fish, and just be outdoors, so Evan really enjoyed the episodes and has been talking about going fishing ever since.

We also haven't been camping since last fall, so he kept talking about our last camping trip throughout the camping episode. Isabella adores animals, so even though she doesn't sit still and watch much TV, she got excited about the Jungle Safari episode.  He enjoyed getting to use his Mickey Mote to answer the questions to the DVD.  I cheered him on, so he was even more proud when getting the answers correct.

There is about 120 minutes of Mickey Mouse fun included on this DVD. The Mickey Mote (a child-friendly handheld remote control) provides hours of interactive fun that allows kids to engage with their favorite Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters while watching Mickey’s Great Outdoors. And the Digital Copy allows parents to download all the episodes onto a secondary device for easy, portable on-the-go access.

Buy It!
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Great Outdoors was released on DVD May 24th. The Mickey Mote Play Set includes DVD + Digital Copy + Mickey Mote and is available for $29.99 U.S. / $35.99 Canada. The 2-Disc Combo Pack includes DVD + Digital Copy and retails for $19.99 U.S. / $24.99 Canada.