A beautiful Brighton purse

I love all things Brighton, so imagine my excitement when I saw that the ladies over at The Secret Is In The Sauce are offering up an adorable Brighton handbag, just perfect for summer . . Oh, I so want this - and I'm sure I need it too! Click here to visit the SITSTAs and enter for your chance to win this beauty!

I want to ride my tricycle

I'm coveting this adorable Italian-made tricycle that's up for grabs over at dkmommyspot; my daughter would love this! If you'd like to throw your name in the hat for a chance to take home a sassy little trike, click here and enter before June 30th!

Win some stylish booties!

Click over to Green and Clean Mom and enter for a chance to win four pairs of Isa Booties, your choice of style and size! A winner will be drawn this Sunday, June 29th

I've got my eye on some Bugaboos

I need to buy my growing girl some summer shoes. She got an adorable pair of Nikes for her first birthday - not that long ago - and she outgrew them in 5 months. Then I bought her a pair of sweet white sandals just before Easter; that pair is now way too small. Honestly, I'm going to have to bind her feet . . .
As luck would have it, A Bookworm's Diary is hosting a giveaway for a pair of Bugaboo shoes. Bugaboo has the cutest styles, so I'm entered and hoping for a pair of sassy red Zoe's! Why don't you throw your name in the hat too? Click here to enter and please tell 'em I sent ya!

1st Birthday Memories

Berrie Sweet Picks is hosting a Berrie Sweet Birthday Memories photo contest. This is my choice; the photo is of my daughter the morning of her first birthday. I made cupcakes, but I didn't have a cupcake pan, so my cupcakes came out in the most original shapes. Pudding Pie had never tasted cake or frosting before and she was quite mystified by the whole thing. When I lit the candle, she went 'oooh!' I love this photo of my little cherub; she's growing way too fast!

Six Weeks of Summer

More giveaway news! The Secret is in The Sauce is hosting one amazing giveaway and up for grabs this week is a spectacular prize: A bounce house! This is the first prize in a Six Weeks of Summer celebration with the SITSta's, what a way to begin the party! Click here to get in on the action!

20 Days of giveaways!

Tip Junkie turns one this week and, to celebrate, there will be 20 glorious days of giveaways, with winners being drawn daily! Hurry over, the fun begins on June 30th!

Sweet Summer Memory

Berrie Sweet Picks is holding a Berrie Sweet Summer Memories photo contest and one of my sweetest summer memories was the very first time we took Pudding Pie swimming this summer. (We took her swimming last year, but she was really little and that is long forgotten.) She was quite beside herself with excitement; it was too cute! To see other berrie sweet summer memories, go to Berrie Sweet Picks.

Pudding Pie and I have been going swimming and also hitting the sand pit and the water park like women possessed. She's loving it and I'm already longing for fall . . . She's lucky she's so incredibly cute because I have to tell you, I wouldn't be doing this for anyone else.

I was recently the lucky recipient of $20 in Baskin Robbins gift certificates, so guess what we've been indulging in? As a Father's Day treat, I blew the last of our gift certificates on a half gallon of 'Gold Medal Ribbon' - a decadent blend of chocolate and vanilla, with swirls of caramel criss-crossing all that yummy chocolate and vanilla. It is good stuff and it's a pretty sweet way to deal with the heat.

In my attempts to raise a peas-and-broccoli-eating toddler I had short-changed Pudding Pie on the sweet treats, but not to worry because she's all caught up now. It seems she has quite a passion for ice cream. When she sees the tub of ice cream being pulled out of the freezer, she starts saying 'no, no, no' and nodding her head vigorously. (This means 'yes' in Pudding Pie talk. . . ) Her excitement is too cute and there is no denying her. These days I have to wait until she's safely tucked in bed if I want to enjoy my ice cream all to myself.

More Melissa and Doug!

Want another chance to scoop up some Melissa and Doug toys, or anything else that takes your fancy from Duck Duck Goose Boutique? Click over to My Three Doodles and enter Mandi's contest to win a $25 gift certificate to spend any way you want at Duck Duck Goose!

Scoop up some Melissa and Doug toys

We love Melissa & Doug toys, my daughter has several of their puzzles and lately, I've been checking out their neat play foods. Imagine my excitement when I saw that Good for the Kids is giving away a $50 gift certificate, which can be used to buy Melissa & Doug toys or anything else your heart desires from the fun-tastic store! I'm entered, are you?

Fancy Nancy, some popcorn and a movie!

This Full House has a fab giveaway for the little girl in your life - and for said little girl's doting mom and pop. Up for grabs: A Fancy Nancy doll looking snug in a pink fluffy bathrobe and yellow fuzzy slippers . Also, to celebrate their youngest daughter's 7th birthday, Elizabeth at This Full House is throwing in a big bowl of Orville Redenbacher popcorn (yum!) and a $5 Blockbuster gift card for the folks to enjoy while the little plays with her new fancy friend! Hurry over and enter by June 17th and don't forget to say 'happy birthday' to Elizabeth's soon-to-be-seven-year-old!

Ain't she cute?

Pudding Pie at the water park

Berrie Sweet Blog Bash

Listen up! There's a party over at berrie sweet picks! From June 21 through June 28, in honor of Buttercup's first birthday, everyone is invited to her Berrie Sweet First Birthday Blog Bash. Lots of yummy prizes are up for grabs!
Happy, Happy first birthday to you Buttercup - and many more:)

Literary Illusions Summer Breeze Contest

Calling all Nintendo fans, this is a good one! Literary Illusions is giving away a Nintendo DS Lite Game System and two games (Horse Life and Brain Age 2). You have until July 4th to enter, so click on over and check it out:
http://www.literaryillusions.com
http://www.li-kids.com

Dry drowning story

One more thing to be paranoid about. I had to post about this, I'd never heard of such a thing.

Last week, I read of a ten-year-old boy who drowned more than an hour after he went swimming. Read this article in detail here on MSNBC.

To summarize: The child, Johnny Jackson, went swimming in a pool near his home, then left after he had an accident in the pool and soiled himself. He walked home with his mother, Cassandra Jackson, and his sister. Once home, his mother bathed him before he lay down for a nap, from which he never awakened.

The article quotes Dr. Daniel Rauch, a pediatrician from New York University Langone Medical Center. Rauch states that while dry drowning is not completely understood, medical research says that in some people, a small amount of inhaled water may have a delayed-reaction effect.

There are three imortant dry drowning indicators to watch for:
1. Difficulty breathing
2. Extreme tiredness,
3. Changes in behavior.

All of the above are the result of reduced oxygen flow to the brain. Johnny had two of the signs — he was tired when he got home, and he had the accident in the pool.

The article notes that dry drowning can happen even 24 hours after a small amount of water gets into the lungs and in a child, this can happen during a bath.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 10 to 15 percent of the 3,600 drowning deaths in 2005 (the most recent year for which there are statistics) was classified as 'dry drowning'.

My heart goes out to Johnny's mom.

Feel like some barbecue sauce?

Father's Day is right around the corner and From Dates to Diapers is offering up 'The Gift of Flavor' as part of their Father's Day festivities. Up for grabs: two bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce - yum! How can we resist? Hurry on over, this giveaway runs until 6/14.

KitchenAid mixer needs a home

I've wanted a KitchenAid mixer for ever. I've dropped hints, made pleas, issued threats. All have fallen on deaf ears. So when I saw that Lori at mywoodenspoon is giving one away, I became moderately excited . . . yeah, right! I am so excited, what a fab giveaway! Hurry over and enter for your chance at this beautiful machine. Giveaway ends June 17th.

Creative summer ideas - and giveaways!

I want to post about a summer event, starting tomorrow, at one of my most favorite sites: 5 MinutesFor Mom. From June 10 - 18, they will be posting ideas and giveaways to keep your family happily entertained this summer - tell your friends, this'll be fun!.

Graco Pack 'n Play Giveaway!

Oh boy, this is one giveaway that can't be passed up - From Dates to Diapers is offering one lucky reader the chance to win a Graco Pack 'n Play!
Why do I want one? Because every time we go across town to visit my in-laws , I have nowhere safe to put my daughter down for a nap. I end up hanging out in the guest bedroom for an hour or so, while she naps on the bed (sandwiched between two pillows) - and I always forget to bring a book! It would be wonderful to put her down for her nap in this pack 'n play, then go catch up with my in-laws, knowing that she's sleeping safely.

Slather up this summer with Fun in the Sun gift pack

Summer's here, it's already stinking hot and it's going to get hotter. Over at From Dates to Diapers, you can enter to win a great Fun in the Sun gift pack, loaded with Aveeno products. I am an avid Aveeno user, my cherub gets slathered with it each time she ventures outdoors these days.
My tip for staying cool this summer: Always have bottles of icy cold water on hand and if you have to be outdoors, try to make sure you're in the water!

Build-A-Bear Giveaway

This Full House is giving away $25.00 Bear Bucks to Build-A-Bear! We've never indulged in this fun activity and I'm dying to take my daughter, I think she'd get a kick out of it! Check it out, giveaway ends on June 11th.

Happy memories from long ago!

Metropolitan Mama is hosting a 'Wii Remember Childhood Moments' contest and the grand prize winner gets to take home a Nintendo Wii! First place winner also gets lucky: a pinata full of Nestle Crunch candy bars - yum!

Here are a few memories of my favorite childhood games:
I grew up in Africa, where gardens are generally large, rambling and densely vegetated. My sisters and I loved to play in the vine-entangled 'rockery' in a far-flung corner of our garden, thus called because it was populated with several large rocks. One rock in particular was huge. We imaginatively called this one "Big Rock" and it was the site of great adventures - safe harbor from countless dreamed up villains, a landing spot when we attempted to swing from the monkey vines during ‘Tarzan’ re-enactments, the possibilities were endless. Looking back, I shudder: I’m sure all manner of slithery, venomous things lurked in that rockery, but we were oblivious!

Another game favored by my sisters and I was to take all of my parents folding lawn chairs, line them up single file and create an ‘airplane’. We stuffed all available dolls into the seats, then transformed ourselves into air hostesses and busied ourselves patrolling the aisle, serving refreshments and doing what we deemed essential ‘hostess’ tasks. We never concerned ourselves with the fact that our flight was pilot less!

Another favorite involved taking mom’s large, round cookie tin lids (sometimes with consent, sometimes without . . .), we’d fill them up with sand and spend hours creating ‘fairy gardens’. We gathered teeny, tiny pebbles to make teeny, tiny garden paths, we’d ‘plant’ flower heads all over and we’d break twigs off bushes for our teeny, tiny trees.

Childhood was a blast!

Ooh la la, these are some cute outfits!

I'm finally posting about the super fab giveaway A Wrestling Addicted Mommy is hosting! I wanted to last night but Pudding Pie didn't . . .

You have until June 18th to enter to win 3 of the most delightful, unique outfits for your cherubs from Ooh La La Mama. I checked this site out and I have to say, my Pudding Pie would look just scrumptious in any of these! Race over to A Wrestling Addicted Mommy and enter this giveaway! Good luck to ya!

Pudding Pie has been having sleep issues and this means so has her mom. She isn't the greatest sleeper to start with. Barely naps an hour during the day and goes to bed around 8:30, closer to 9 , then likes to wake after three hours and ends up in the bed with me, where she continues to wake on and off through the night . . .
Yesterday she barely napped 20 minutes and stayed up as late as she could. Today she declined a nap altogether, but still opted to exhibit all the signs of a child desperately needing said nap. By evening this Mommy was feeling a little frazzzzzzled!
Pudding Pie did eventually go down earlier then usual this evening, big sigh of relief of Mommy until "waaah!' - she woke after 30 minutes.
Please, no! Mommy charged in there and put that baby back to sleep in record time.
She really should be doing better on the sleep front and it's my fault, I just don't have the stomach to let her cry it out and whenever I read the sleep advice books, I close them pretty quick because I discover I'm guilty of everything they say not to do . . .

A Talking First Aid Kit

Visit Mommymandy.com for the chance to win an IntelligentFirstAid "talking" kit. These wonderful kits are designed by medical and educational experts and they combine supplies, visual instruction cards and an audio module for verbal guidance to manage common injuries. I am not always good in a crisis situation, how great to have visual and audio instructions to help! The giveaway ends June 30th.