Cardstore.com - review and discount

I have never been the one to make Christmas cards using a family picture. Not that I have not wanted to, but I just never was able to get the family together and get one made. That probably has something to do with my procrastination problem but we will deal with that "later".

This year I found a new company called Cardstore.com. One Sunday after church when we were all still dressed fairly nice, I made everyone get together and we took pictures! We took several pictures to make sure we had a good one and this is the result:

I am so excited to get these out to family and friends!!

At checkout, they even give you the option to address your envelopes for you, they will add postaage for you, and they will even mail them out for you if you would like! And best of all, I placed the order on Sunday afternoon and had them by Wednesday! They shipped fast! And they look GREAT!! I am rather proud of my good looking family.

Check out their selection of holiday cards and photo cards. Some of the things they offer include:
--Unique designs: Choose from over 7,000 designs from more than 70 artists. Select card styles that are smart, stylish, playful, original or modern
--Get personal: Create unique messages with up to 14 photos, 18 fonts and 10 colors
--No minimum order: Create one card for someone special or hundreds of cards for an entire company
--Eco-friendly: Cards are printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper, and Cardstore’s carbon footprint is offset through Carbonfund.org
--Designer quality at a bargain price: High quality cards designed by well-known stationery artists with no hidden fees. Cards are priced from $0.79-$2.79
--Direct mail: upload your address book and Cardstore.com will print and mail your cards at no extra charge!

It is not too late to get your cards for Christmas and I am sure you will love these! PLUS, cardstore.com is offering North Carolina Momma readers a 20% discount on your first order. Just use coupon code CSHOLIDAY20 at checkout!

Winners

Flipped Movie Winner:
Congratulations to comment #6 Nancy who said I remember having a crush on a fellow first grader when we were the ones to pick up our class' milk snack from the cafeteria and later dispose of the same empty cartons.

Nancy
allibrary (at) aol (dot) com

I will be emailing you shortly Nancy...congratulations and I hope you enjoy your movie!

Redraw for the Pillsbury sweet Sunday morning prize pack:
I had to redraw and get another winner for the Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls prize pack because I did not have an email address for the previous winner. So now I want to say congratulations to comment #3 Rebecca W who said On Sundays we get up and go to church as a family. I love being able to worship as a family! Then after church we eat lunch and have a lazy rest of the day!
rebeccaw2005 at hotmail dot com

I will be emailing you shortly as well!

Both winners will have 48 hours to respond to the email or I will pick another winner!

Thanksgiving - Not just a day

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving, but I want to ask a question...what is Thanksgiving? Is it just a day that you celebrate with your family where you sit around and eat turkey and say the things that you are thankful for? That is a really good idea..BUT Thanksgiving should not just be a one day celebration. Rather, it should be a lifestyle. We should live everyday with thanks in our hearts. God has been so great to all of us and we need to be thankful each and every day!
So, after the turkey and pies are gone, don't lose your spirit of giving thanks. Make a daily habit of saying thanks to the people that matter to you, say thanks to God for all the blessings He has given you, and let's make a lifestyle of thanksgiving and not just a one day holiday!

Now I want to share a lovely Thanksgiving video for you...hope you enjoy!!

Family Movie Night coming December 3rd

If you have read my blog at all, you know that I LOVE family movie night. I really enjoy the time that the whole family can get together and watch a good movie. So many movies that could be good are ruined by the language and sex, so I am always thrilled to get the opportunity to get together and see a movie that has not been ruined. A movie can be good and not be vulgar!!



Our opportunity is coming up very soon to see a great new family friendly movie. It is called A Walk In My Shoes and it will be airing on December 3rd on NBC @ 7 pm CST. Watch the trailer here and make plans for your next family movie night.

A Walk In My Shoes - 2:33 TRLR from Moms4FamilyTV.com on Vimeo.

I also encourage my readers, if you have a blog, to share this on your blog as well.

If you have a Facebook account, make sure to Like Family Movie Night on facebook.

Encourage your readers (and you as well), tune in to NBC on Friday, December 3rd for this great movie!

Flipped - Movie review with giveaway

Do you remember the moment you "flipped" from not liking girls or boys and thinking they had cooties to trying to figure them out and feeling something different for the opposite sex? I remember playing cops & robbers with my sister, a girl friend next door, and a boy and his cousin from next door. The boys were the cops and the girls were the robbers. They always picked one to already be in jail and for some reason, it was always me. One day I realized why it was me. On this day, the cousin "Charley" told everyone that he was tired so he was going to sit down for a little while. He sat there with me. I started noticing that he was scooting closer and closer to where I was sitting, but I was naive so I didn't pay any attention to it...until he leaned in and tried to kiss me! Ewww gross!! I jumped up and ran home! My sisters picked on me and laughed and joked and I was just embarrassed.

But I can't really say that I remember the specific time after that when I wished I had let him kiss me. I know I thought about it but only to myself because I did not like boys like that. I just know that I am glad that I finally realized that boys were more interesting instead of just always embarrassing.

There is a new movie coming out on November 23rd that follows a young girl and boy from grade school to junior high, and we see the moment that he flips from thinking she is gross to looking at her a little differently. You know, how we start to day dream about the one we like? Can't think of anything except her, can't concentrate on school...the first signs of being "flipped".

This will be a wonderful movie for moms and daughters to watch together. Check out this mom & daughter resource guide: http://partnershub.com/widgets/flipped/downloads/flipped_resource_guide.pdf And I have the opportunity to offer a DVD to be given away to one of North Carolina Momma's readers. This is going to be fun.
For the mandatory entry: Go to Have You Flipped? and take the quiz. Come back here and tell me your answer!

Additional entries:
You can earn additional entries by doing any or all of the following:

1 entry - share your story of knowing that you had flipped or a story from before you flipped.
1 entry - Like Flipped on facebook http://www.facebook.com/FlippedMovie?v=wall
1 entry - follow my blog with google friends connect
1 entry - subscribe to my blog with email updates (upper left hand corner)
1 entry - follow me on twitter www.twitter.com/shaeffermom

Giveaway will end on November 25th..winner will be drawn using rrandom.org and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Available to US only and must be 13 or older. You must include your email address in your comment if it is not visible on your profile.

Disclaimer: I was asked to write this review for the upcoming release of this movie. I will be receiving a free DVD for the purpose of a giveaway, but I have not received, nor will I receive, any other compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% mine.

Carmex - healing cream and healing lotion

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carmex®. All opinions are 100% mine.

I hate the winter months! For one, I am very cold natured so I much rather have the warm months. But also, my skin dries out so bad and I get chapped lips and hands. It is so annoying when they start to itch and crack and nothing seems to help. I constantly use chap stick, and I have found Carmex to be one of the absolute BEST!! Carmex does not only moisturize, but it protects your lips from the sun and helps to heal them when they are chapped or even have cold sores. Unfortunately my whole family gets cold sores and we get them year round so I keep medicated chap stick in my purse at all times.

Well as we approach the dreaded cold weather months, Carmex has some great news for us!! They have a NEW Carmex® Healing Lotion and Carmex® Healing Cream. Both the cream and the lotion are $5.99 and can be purchased at Walgreens stores, walgreens.com, or drugstores.com. As soon as I heard the Carmex had these new lotions and creams, I went straight out to my local Walgreens store and bought one of each!  And let me just say that I am not disappointed at all!! I think I may just survive the winter with my lips and my hands! I have been using the Healing cream and it has made my hands feel so good. The cream is not greasy at al and I can feel the healing in my skin.

I encourage my readers to also try out the NEW Carmex® Healing Lotion and Carmex® Healing Cream .  I encourage you to "like" Carmex on facebook and enter the Carmex® Tube Lovers Trio Giveawayhttp://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=170928126268597&id=100001693987457&notif_t=share_reply#!/carmexlipbalm?v=app_11007063052  . . (.    . ( find the    

You can find them on facebook here http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=170928126268597&id=100001693987457&notif_t=share_reply#!/carmexlipbalm?v=app_11007063052 

Thanks Carmex for helping my hands and mouth feel better when the cold, wind and sun try to make them feel itchy, dry and chapped! You win this battle, and for that I will be forever grateful!

Check out Carmex online: Carmex® Healing Lotion and Carmex® Healing Cream

 http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=170928126268597&id=100001693987457&notif_t=share_reply#!/carmexlipbalm?v=app_11007063052 A soon as I   Biothhttp://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=170928126268597&id=100001693987457&notif_t=share_reply#!/carmexlipbalm?v=app_11007063052 

Winner of the Pillsbury Prize Pack

Congratulations to comment #2 Never That Easy said... 2
These are great for Sunday mornings! We tend to move slow on weekend mornings, but there's a local food program that we usually wind up watching. Makes us drool about all the good places we could wind up having lunch.

I don't have an email address to get up with the winner, but she will have 48 hours to get up with me before I pick another winner!

Store Brand vs. Name Brand

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PBM Products. All opinions are 100% mine.

How often do you buy store brand items as opposed to name brand?  As I have been trying to save money, I have learned that name brand is not important.  When I get a prescription or over the counter medication, I go for the generic rather than the more expensive name brand. They both have the same ingredients but one cost a whole lot less than the other.

So what about baby formula? Have you ever considered giving your baby a store brand of baby formula over a name brand? If no, then why not??  All formula sold in the US has to meet the same exact FDA requirements. The biggest difference is the price. We all know that having children costs a lot of money.  At first we buy the most expensive diapers, the most expensive clothes and even the most expensive formula. But eventually we realize how crazy we are and we begin to bargain shop.

Store brand formulas cost up to 50% less than name brand formula, which can be a potential savings of $600 a year per baby. Wow, what a difference. The reason for this is  because they are not heavily marketed or advertised and are not given away to hospitals for free. That cost savings is passed along to the consumer.  For more information, I encourage you to visit http://storebrandformula.com.  Here you can see all the statistics, nutritional value and other information on the benefits of switching from name brand to store brand baby formula. 

I also wanted to make you aware, if you have not already been made aware, of a Similac recall.  Abbott voluntary recalled certain Similac powder infant formulas because of the possibility of the presence of a small common beetle in the product last month. The FDA determined the formula poses no immediate health risk, but some infants could experience symptoms of gastrointestinal discomfort and refusal to eat as a result of  irritated GI tracts.

If these symptoms persist for more than a few days, a physician should be consulted.

The recall of these powder infant formulas includes:

• Certain Similac powder product lines offered in plastic containers.
• Certain Similac powder product lines offered in 8-ounce, 12.4-ounce and 12.9-ounce cans.

To immediately find out if the Similac product in your possession is affected call (888) 376-2054. The return process will be explained. 

store brand formula

 

The Way Home ~ movie review

This was one of those movies that I actually cried when watching the preview. I think the only other one that made me cry at the preview was Letters to God. Both movies are true stories and totally awesome!!

The Project:
On March 31, 2000, Randy Simpkins came home early from the office to help his wife, Christal, pack for a vacation to the beach. Christal asked Randy to load their two year-old, Joe, into his car seat. Instead, Randy left Joe riding his tricycle in the driveway while he went inside to turn off the lights and lock up. They lived on a rural farm in a safe area. Their kids played outside all the time. Randy didn’t give it a second thought to leave Joe for a couple of minutes, figuring he’d be cooped up long enough on the drive to the beach.
When Randy returned outside, Joe was gone. His tricycle was laying on its side, motionless. Randy called for Joe and looked around the yard. He was greeted with an eerie silence. A sudden feeling of panic rushed over him like a wave. Randy did not realize it at the time, but the next eight hours would put him through a life-altering rollercoaster of emotions that would challenge his priorities regarding God, his family and community.

My thoughts:
When my family sat down to watch this movie, I grabbed the tissues and handed them out. My husband told me I was crazy, but by the end of the movie he needed one as well! This movie tells a story that most of us live everyday. We get married and our days become so much of a routine that we forget to love each other. If we are not careful our relationships will get bitter and we will begin to argue over the smallest of things and even blame one another when something happens that was not any one's fault. That happened in this movie when Joe became missing. Christal told her husband Randy to put Joe in the car seat and since he didn't want him "cooped up" for longer than he had to, she played the "I told you" game. Their bitter relationship was restored in the end and the tragedy that almost happened was a true eye opener. I hope that every couple will watch this movie and decide to find a way to always love your spouse and not let it get bitter! Things are going to happen that is out of our control and we need the one we love to be there for us and with us instead of being bitter towards us!

Connect with The Way Home movie:

facebook

twitter

Blogger

official website

Watch the trailer



“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Sunday mornings with Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls - giveaway

My weekdays are so hectic some mornings. I have to get the hubby up (he doesn't know how to use his own alarm clock), then I have to fight with the kiddies to get them up for school (that is always a chore!!), and all the while I am running around trying to get ready for work and make sure everyone has taken their meds, eaten breakfast and has lunch money. By the time I get to work I feel like I can take a break!

Sundays are thankfully a different story. On Sunday I get up quietly so I don't wake anyone else. I start my pot of coffee and go get the paper. Then I cook up some Pillsbury cinnamon rolls and enjoy a cup of coffee with a cinnamon roll while reading the paper and listening to CMT on the TV. It sounds busy and chaotic, but I enjoy the quiet and being able to juggle what I want! And Pillsbury has made breakfast easy with the cinnamon rolls....they are easy to fix and everyone loves them. Have you tried the Pillsbury flaky cinnamon rolls yet? New Pillsbury® Flaky Cinnamon Rolls with Butter Cream Icing are the perfect Sunday breakfast to help make your family’s time together even more sweet. A delicious Sunday morning treat for the whole family, the light, flaky dough, rich vanilla butter cream icing, and amazing Cinnabon Cinnamon make each roll mouthwatering. Just place and bake, and with an aroma that is almost impossible to resist, Flaky Cinnamon Rolls with Butter Cream Icing will quickly become your family’s favorite Sunday morning tradition.

They are so good!! And thanks to Pillsbury and Myblogspark I was given a prize pack with free cinnamon rolls and a scrapbooking kit. What better way to spend your Sunday morning with Pillsbury cinnamon rolls and capturing the moments on camera.

But that is not all!! I was also given the same prize pack to give away to one of my lucky readers!! Here is what you could win:

Then you too can curl up with a cinnamon roll, cup of coffee, newspaper and TV just like me! Or you can do your own Sunday morning routine.

So would you like to win this prize pack?? Of course you do.


All you have to do is share your family's sweet Sunday morning moment in the comment section. Enter as many times as you like. I can't wait to hear some of your stories!!



Don't forget to leave your email address in your comment so I will know how to contact you. Leave it in the format of yourname(at)emailprovider(dot)com. This will help keep spammers away from your email!!

This giveaway will run through November 15th and I will draw a winner on the 16th so get commenting and sharing this with all your friends!!







Disclaimer: I was given this prize pack from Pillsbury through Myblogspark but the views and opinions are 100% mine!

Getting ready for Christmas - Purse & Bag Review

So I cannot believe it is already November and as I was reminded today, only 51 days until Christmas. Do you have your Christmas lists ready yet? I am working on mine a little at the time. I found a great idea for that hard to buy for lady in your life...purses and bags.

There are two things that all ladies love...shoes and purses! But sometimes it is hard to find a one-of-a-kind purse for that one-of-a-kind person. Not any more!! I want to introduce you to Sherry Smith Designs. She does not have a web site right now but is workin through her facebook page. She has LOTS of fabrics in stock and/or she can find just what you are looking for. She can even make a purse from a t-shirt!! Do you have a favorite t-shirt that maybe is too small but you just can't part with it? How about making it into a purse?

I sent her an iron-on that I had and she made me an awesome bag

Isn't this awsome?!? She ironed it on a t-shirt...and she tells me that this was no easy job. Apparently I had those iron-ons a little too long...ooops.

The inside of the bag has a removable bottom that is hard so that the purse does not bend. And it has 4 large pockets.....I lose my keys now all the time :)

And the back is quilted, black fabric.

This bag is so well put together and I loved it so much that I had to order myself a second purse for Christmas. I have always wanted a Christmas themed purse but have never found one that I really liked. But I ordered this one and I LOVE it!!

Isn't it just the cutest thing ever??? Sherry does an awesome job.

So now you want to know how you can get one of these great bags, right?!?!? Well I am glad you asked because I have the information you need.

First of all you can go to her facebook page. Check out her pictures of all the fabrics she has in stock and look as some of the other bags she has done. She even does weekender bags for those overnight trips. Here are her prices and her introduction:

You will have to send her a friend request on facebook so make sure you tell her that North Carolina Momma sent you!!