Two Monkeys & A Washtub: June 2010

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Upcoming kid's workshop at Home Depot this Saturday - 7/3/10!

Don't forget to go to Home Depot this Saturday (7/3/10) to make this periscope with your kids! To get more info, check out this website! Your kids will get a kid-size Home Depot orange apron and an achievement pin! The site states that the workshops are offered from 9am to noon (our store starts at 10am, so check to be sure)! They do run out of kits and at this time you can't preregister, so get there early! The workshops are free!

Don't forget to enter all my giveaways going on now!

Some have very low entries! Support my giveaway sponsors, so that I can host more great giveaways in the future! They all have at least one easy entry and if you're reading this, well then you will probably easily get 2-4 extra entries just for stopping by! Thanks!

Phantom of the Opera Broadway Poster - 7/2

Promises, Promises CD - 7/5

Crayola Beginnings - Tadoodles in The Tub Set - 7/5

Kung Zhu Toys - 2 Hamsters, 2 Sets of Armor - 7/25

$40 Gift Card for CSN Stores - 7/25

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Let me know what you'd buy from CSN Stores - $40 Giftcard Giveaway! - CLOSED

CSN Stores has offered a $40 giftcard to one lucky reader, but there's a catch! You have to visit CSN Stores and tell me what you really want that I don't mention below....I'll wait, it might take you awhile, they have over 200 stores and thousands of great products! I'm jealous that you might be the one shopping!

Here are some of my favorite items:

Educo Ocean Adventure Activity Table (with Free Shipping) at only $84.00 - my kids love these tables, but I am always fearful of them playing with them at the doctor's office and this is a great price for a wood and wire bead maze table!

Dogs laugh with their tails dog bowl (with Free Shipping) only $34.95 - guessing that it doesn't hold enough for my great dane, but I love the saying! This bowl is super cute!

Saint Louis Blues Goalie Mask for our game room (with Free Shipping) only $58.00! When you're a fan, you're a fan!

Giveaway Details: (US entries only please)

I have $40 gift card to CSN stores (does not include shipping) to give away to one lucky reader. To enter this giveaway, Visit CSN Stores and let me know a product you find irresistible on their site that you might buy with your $40 gift card and it's price! It's that simple! I'll be checking all entries and then picking the winner at random! This giveaway will end on July 25, 2010 at 9:30PM Central and I'll e-mail the winner who will have 48 hours to respond before you can commence your mini-shopping spree!

(Please include your e-mail so it's easy to contact you. It's no fun to determine a winner and have no way to get a hold of them! If you're new to this whole blog giveaway thing - check your profile, your e-mail may be hidden!)

Want to earn additional entries? I make it really easy (and you can earn lots of extra entries) As you can tell, I love my Google Friends, subscribers, tweets and comments - but I try to keep it fair for everyone!

** Earn two extra entries for just letting me know you are a Google Friend (I friend back, just let me know if you have a blog you'd like me to friend). Leave two separate comments.

** Earn two additional entries for being an e-mail/feed subscriber (yes, you can be a subscriber and friend). Leave two separate comments.

**Earn three additional entries by posting this giveaway on a giveaway linky, come back and leave me the link to the linky and the listing #. Leave three separate comments.

**Earn three additional entries by tweeting about this giveaway on twitter. Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway! Come back and leave me a link to your comment with your twitter name – if I don’t already follow you, I’ll follow you back too. @monkeyswashtub $40 CSN Stores GC Giveaway at Two Monkeys & a Washtub at http://goo.gl/fb/UNTKh (For fairness to those that don't venture into twitter, only one tweet entry allowed per person! Leave three separate comments!)

**Earn three additional entries by linking up your finding me story on my Finding Me Monday's post! It has to be relevant to Finding Me, but I'd love to have some participation in my new bloggy venture into finding the old, new me! Leave three separate entries.

**Earn three additional entries by grabbing my button and posting it on your blog! Come back and leave me a comment letting me know that you did just that or add me to your blogroll and come back and let me know that you linked me up! Leave three separate entries.

Disclosure: I opted to provide a giveaway in lieu of a product review at CSN Stores. I hope you enjoy the products you receive if you win! Many products they carry are name brand, so I had no question regarding the quality or I would have reviewed first. No additional compensation was received.

This giveaway has ended - thanks for visiting and check out my other great giveaways!

Monday, June 28, 2010

keywords that I know I never use...

I think I may be troubled for a long while! I thought I would check my google analytics to see what my recent keywords for drawing people to look at my site were...I was excited when I saw Giants of the Savanna, eShakti, and Two Monkeys and a Washtub, but don't think I will ever look at my blog quite the same knowing the ask jeeves sent someone to it when they searched for "two monkeys doing it"! What are your strange keywords? I'm waiting for even stranger ones...but I'm surprised someone clicked on the link sending them to this site if they were looking for "two monkeys doing it"!

A new way to buy giftcards - FriendGiftr!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of FriendGiftr. All opinions are 100% mine.

I don't know about you but there have been a few times when I open a gift and wonder what I will ever do with what I received! I've even done it with gift cards....so the gift cards sit unused in the kitchen drawer waiting to be re-gifted! I hate re-gifting but I know I won't use it so I'm hoping someone else will....unfortunately, now you can call that 800-number on the back and determine when a card was purchased - bummer, so now I'm stuck!

I now have the perfect solution when I buy gifts for others because I am guessing that I am not the only one who gets a gift card and then wonders when I will ever use it! FriendGiftr allows users to buy and send digital and/or physical gift cards to friends, family, and associates for the holidays, birthdays, other special occasions, or anytime. Buyers can select from over 120 of their favorite retail and restaurant gift cards to buy $10, $20, $25, $35, $50, $75, or $100 gift cards. But what’s really great about FriendGiftr is that gift receivers are empowered to get what they really want (yes, you read that right)– they can exchange the gift card given to them from their friends or family for any of the 120 merchants FriendGiftr offers for no additional cost and without the buyer knowing. They can also split the gift card across multiple merchants, enabling the ultimate user choice and control.

Oh, how many times I would have loved having this option when I received an undesirable gift card! Don't worry, I know that I have probably given the same undesirable gift to friends as well...so FriendGiftr is a great solution! In addition, FriendGiftr carries gift cards from major brands! I'm talking about Dell, Applebee's, Kohl's, CVS, Bloomingdale's, Papa John's...really you can't go wrong (at this time there are over 120 merchants)! It doesn't matter who you are trying to please or if there taste have changed from tuna to cavier and you didn't know because they can exchange it for what they want without even telling you!

Visit my sponsor: America's Favorite Gift Cards

Mailbox Monday Blog Hop!

Trying to find some fun blog hops! This one looked like it might just fit well here at Two Monkeys & a Washtub! Feel free to join in! It's Mailbox Monday, a blog hop to boost your subscriber count hosted by Simply Stacie, This Mama Loves Her Bargains and A little of this A little of that…

Here’s how to join in the fun: Add your blog link to the linky, subscribe by email to the three hostesses. They will return the favor.

Visit the other blogs on the list and subscribe by email to the ones that interest you. Leave them a comment with your blog link so they know you are subscribing from Mailbox Monday. Don’t forget to confirm your subscription! You can add you link to this list and it will show wherever this linky is included:

Hiltons of Branson - have you made your summer vacation plans yet?

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Hiltons of Branson. All opinions are 100% mine.

As I've mentioned before, my husband and I went to college in Missouri and he have lots of friends and family in Missouri so a trip to Branson has always been in the plans for us! Whenever we travel, we always try to stay at a Hilton family hotel because we know there won't be any hassles, the rooms will be clean, and we'll be well taken care of and we travel a lot for work so we've seen a lot of bad hotels - trust me! We make at least one trip back to Missouri every year just for fun and try to add something new each time! Now that the kids are a little older and we can drive, it won't just be flying into St. Louis to catch a Cardinals and/or Blues game and then flying home!

What better way to have a great time this summer than taking a trip to Branson, and what better place to stay than the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing and the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel. Situated within the entertainment capital of the Midwest in Branson, Missouri, the Hiltons of Branson offer guests access to shops, boutiques, restaurants, a river walk and other attractions. Enjoy being in the midst of all the action by booking your stay at either hotel today! Both hotels are within easy driving distance of Branson’s championship golf courses like the Payne Stewart Golf Club managed by Hilton, as well as beautiful lakes, museums, theme parks and 49 live entertainment theaters. With so much to offer, this exciting vacation community is perfect for everyone!

There are so many great activities going on in Branson, Missouri this summer from the National Kid's Fest, Parrot Head Day, to the Annual Downtown Clown Around! And don't forget the great summer concert series which includes the Branson Fiddle Festival.

Branson has so many family-oriented attractions and the people are friendly and hospitable! Branson just doesn't draw a party crowd to the Ozark mountains, so you'll be comfortable with your children in tow. Spend time exploring the city, enjoying the golf courses, or spending your days on one of the nearby lakes. I think we'll be enjoying some great BBQ (Silver Dollar City) and cooling off at the pool (White Water Branson)! I'm guessing we'll spend a lot of time just enjoying the fountain show (pictured above) at Branson Landing too!

Both hotels are beautiful! On Lake Taneycomo in Missouri, the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing hotel is located in the new Branson Landing shopping and entertainment district. The Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing is a full-service hotel located in the heart of Historic Downtown and is directly across from the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel and the Branson Convention Center, and located minutes from the area's 49 theatres, outlet malls, golf courses, Table Rock Lake, Silver Dollar City, Titanic Museum and numerous other attractions. In addition, both hotels are pet-friendly so you don't have to leave your pet at home (some restrictions apply, see hotel for additional details)!

Visit my sponsor: Experience the Summer Spectacular in Branson!

Finding Me Mondays - For me, today is all about motivation! Link up to your story!

This week's weigh in! I haven't taken pictures yet, except with my kids and I use them to hide me normally, but I will and measurements when I can figure out where my boys put the tape measure!
Monday, June 21st: 203.5 lbs, Size 14
Monday, June 28th: 200.0 lbs, Size 14
This week I cut out soda, except for one diet coke, reduced the sugar in my one cup of coffee to two teaspoons, switched to plain iced tea, and really watched my diet. I am limited physcially (my heart just can't take streneous exercise) in hard exercise, so I made sure to take a flight of stairs when I could, assembled our new bikes, and the bike trailer for our kids, and stopped asking my husband (who only weighs 145 lbs) to get everything for me! I also park a little farther back in the parking lot to get some extra walking in when I go shopping.

I'm motivated to lose the weight...and ready to drop another 20 lbs so that hopefully my heart arrythmia will stop inhibiting my ability to exercise the way I used to...I miss kick-boxing and spinning classes! Really, I just miss being able to be somebody's workout buddy! :( It's amazing what you miss when you are told you can't do something anymore and realize when you push it a little too hard that maybe the doctor wasn't kidding....I still think that 5 to 8 minutes is a little too little, but I'll start at 15 minutes and work up to more! (Sorry for the dis last week, Dr. Shah!)

My motivation!
So when I mentioned it was all about motivation, what did I mean? Well this week, I dug into the back of my closet and dug out my favorite red dress...it's not a favorite because I always wore it pre-kids, nope, I loved it when I first saw it in the store in September 2004 and was so excited it fit! It was a size 6 (the first size 6 since high school, I weight 160 lbs when I bought this dress, it's stretchy)! Note, it still has the tags on it...I never had a chance to wear it while it still fit before I gained all the weight, regardless of the excuse to why I gained the weight, being sick, two kids later, two c-sections later, mild post-partum depression, and lots of traveling and not eating right and this is where I am....starting at 203.5lbs! It will be slow this time but I'm going to do it!

In addition to my motivation, I figured that I had to motivate my husband as well! He can eat just about anything now with his exercise schedule (he was heavy in high school and lost weight) and was always offering me sweets! So wrapped in a nice box, he received a gorgeous chemise in midnight blue from Frederick's of Hollywood in a Size Small! I told him that if he helped me stay motivated, it would fit next year! He hasn't offered any sweets this weekend, so I think it's working! You can click the link if you're curious, I didn't include a picture in case some were easily offended! I know I won't look like the model, but hey, who the hell does anyway...I'm not worried about that!

Join me in the journey of finding yourself, whether it's weight loss or something else by linking up below! We could all use some support!

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Kung Zhu Toys - Review & Giveaway (by the makers of Zhu Zhu Pets) - CLOSED

This giveaway has ended - thanks for visiting and check out my other great giveaways!

Thanks to Cepia, LLC and MomSelect, I recently had the opportunity to share the Kung Zhu Pets with some of my closest friends and their children while doing a product review! What better way to get an honest opinion than to have multiple boys trying to figure out how a new toy works all at the same time? I received most of the toys pictured below from Cepia, LLC and MomSelect to test out and I can honestly say that if you had frustrations with the initial Zhu Zhu Pets Habitrail, that the "training grounds" that are part of the Kung Zhu Pets are really durable and well-made. Maybe it's because they are geared towards boys but I can say that this set held up to the abuse of our rough and tumble product testers that ranged in age from 2 to 6 years old. I'm guessing that they are likely tougher on toys than an 8-year old would be anyday!

From the company: "Once transformed, you can arrange ultimate battles between your Special Forces and Ninja Warriors Kung Zhu Pets! The Special Forces Kung Zhu army includes Stonewall, Seargent Serge, Rock'O and Rivet. These tough hamsters will evolve into Special Force Warriors after training in either the Alpha or Bravo training grounds with different weapons, armors and defense technology. In the meantime, your Ninja Warriors including Yama,Azer, Drayko and Thorn, will transform into rough fighters after training in their Samaurai and Ninja grounds using their own weapons and armors. Each of these Ninjas has a hieroglyph or Dragon symbol on its bright and colorful fur while the Special forces have either a star or comet army sign."

Our thoughts: The hamsters really do act like the sweet Zhu Zhu Pets we came to love until they go through the training grounds! Once they have their battle armor on and run across the smart chip activators, well they really do become fighting hamsters. I think we actually heard them growling at each other in the Battle Arena while they were fighting (even without armor, they still change personality upon entering the Battle Arena)! We wish that the hamsters could use their armor in the entire training grounds but they just don't fit in the passageways!

If you were purchasing only a few pieces, I would definitely recommend buying the Battle Arena and hamsters from opposing forces and matching suits of armor. The Kung Zhu Tanks were also a lot of fun! One great design feature of this toy is that each piece of the training ground is made to work independently, so if you only buy one or two at a time, it will all still work and you can link together later! You can really add a lot to this set but it will take up a lot of room to set up the entire training grounds (It was worth it because the kids really enjoyed it)! Released in mid-June, Kung Zhu Pets are sure to be a hit! Based on the website, it looks like there are plans to come out with additional Ninjas and Special Forces soon!

We had a hard time getting the kids to step away from the Kung Zhu Pets long enough to eat dinner! They all really had fun with them and were excited to take their hamster and suit of armor home with them! We couldn't even break their attention to look at the camera, the Kung Zhu Pets were too exciting! As my boys were heading to bed, and I was about to start putting away everything, I was asked, "mommy, can we please play with it tomorrow when nobody else is here?"...so it sits against the windows waiting for tomorrow when more battles will take place!

Giveaway Details: (US entries only please)
I have a two hamsters (Stonewall & Azer) and two sets of armor (Shadow Jonin & Thunder Strike) to give away to one lucky reader (value of ~$40) - please note that although these specific hamsters and armor do not "match", they do all work together and will give you a set from the Special Forces and one from the Ninja Warriors because it doesn't really matter what armor you use on each hamster. To enter this giveaway, Visit Kung Zhu toys and let me know your favorite warrior Kung Zhu Hamster or which piece of the training grounds you think is the coolest! It's that simple! I'll be picking the winner at random! This giveaway will end on July 25, 2010 at 9:30PM Central and I'll e-mail the winner who will have 48 hours to respond!

(Please include your e-mail so it's easy to contact you. It's no fun to determine a winner and have no way to get a hold of them! If you're new to this whole blog giveaway thing - check your profile, your e-mail may be hidden!)

Want to earn additional entries? I make it really easy (and you can earn lots of extra entries) As you can tell, I love my Google Friends, subscribers, tweets and comments - but I try to keep it fair for everyone!
** Earn two extra entries for just letting me know you are a Google Friend (I friend back, just let me know if you have a blog you'd like me to friend). Leave two separate comments.

** Earn two additional entries for being an e-mail/feed subscriber (yes, you can be a subscriber and friend). Leave two separate comments.

**Earn three additional entries by posting this giveaway on a giveaway linky, come back and leave me the link to the linky and the listing #. Leave three separate comments.

**Earn three additional entries by tweeting about this giveaway on twitter. Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway! Come back and leave me a link to your comment with your twitter name – if I don’t already follow you, I’ll follow you back too. @monkeyswashtub Kung Zhu Toy Giveaway at Two Monkeys & a Washtub at http://goo.gl/fb/QlHbw (For fairness to those that don't venture into twitter, only one tweet entry allowed per person! Leave three separate comments!)

**Earn three additional entries by linking up your finding me story on my Finding Me Monday's post! It has to be relevant to Finding Me, but I'd love to have some participation in my new bloggy venture into finding the old, new me! Leave three separate entries.

**Earn three additional entries by grabbing my button and posting it on your blog! Come back and leave me a comment letting me know that you did just that or add me to your blogroll and come back and let me know that you linked me up! Leave three separate entries.

Disclosure: I was provided the toys for review and the toys for giveaway but no additional compensation was received. The opinions included in this review are mine and the parent's of the children that attended the Kung Zhu party, and may differ from your opinions.

This giveaway has ended - thanks for visiting and check out my other great giveaways!

Friday, June 25, 2010

Yeah - bloggy awards!

Thanks so much to Kim at Chubby Cheeks Thinks for sending me these two bloggy awards! Both awards require that you award them on to ten bloggers that you enjoy and tell everyone ten things about yourself!

I'm sending both of these awesome awards on to some very deserving bloggers, so make sure you stop by and show them some bloggy-love! Thanks again Kim! To add them to your own blog, just right-click and save the picture, then upload to your own post to share the love with your fellow bloggers! Don't forget to include 10 things about yourself too!

1. Tamona @ Tamona's Tips (great work at home tips and she's hilarious)

2. Shell @ Things I Can't Say (you'll love her site)

3. Nikki B @ Life as we know it (because she makes me laugh even when she isn't trying)

4. Jody @ Family Ramblings (because she answered all my new bloggy questions and didn't laugh)

5. Janelle @ At Home with my Monkeys & Not Just Leftovers, Brand New Meals (she was my first follower and has some great recipe ideas too)

6. Elizabeth @ Confessions from a Working Mom (you'll just love her "confessions")

7. Susan @ Permanent Posies (beautiful artwork, recipes, and more)

8. Dian @ Grocery Shop for Free (who wouldn't want to go check that out?)

9. Kady @ Take a Mom's Word for it (inspriration and giveaways)

10. Elle @ Elle Says Relax (she's just getting started and has some great posts)

Ten things about me! Like you really care, you're off blog hopping - I know you well enough by now :)

1. I use blogging as my creative outlet since I work "between the lines"!

2. I'd love to dabble in photography and keep up with the iheartfaces challenges, but my kids will be lucky if we get pictures of them on a quarterly basis eventhough we have a nice camera!

3. I don't expect to become famous by blogging but if you know someone who knows someone, you can sure send them my way!

4. Okay, I'll be serious now - someday I want a beach or lake house where the kids can stay up late and always have a place to call home!

5. I love cooking but never measure and never make the same recipe twice (at least not exactly the same)!

6. If I could afford to be a professional party planner and caterer, I would quit work tomorrow to do it but it doesn't pay as well!

7. I love my kids but am blessed that they get to spend so much time with their "MiMi" during the day! I don't think she was as patient with me as a child, but she has much more patience than I do with my boys!

8. My husband and I have been married for over 9 years, have owned three different homes, and moved from the midwest to the east coast and landed in Texas.

9. I'm going to lose weight this year...no matter what...I have my red dress picked out already and it's a Size 6!

10. I love pets and if I were to walk into a shelter, I would try to take them all home with me! When I donate, I have to drop off at the side door! If I won the lottery, I would open a sanctuary for the pets that nobody wanted!

Some more great Friday Blog Hops!

Join in on the fun, find some great new blogs to read, and make some new friends in the Blogosphere!...

< Visiting? Let me know how you found Two Monkeys & a Washtub and where you hang out on the web so I can friend you back! Thanks for stopping by!

Stay tuned! Upcoming giveaway to CSN Stores!

Two Monkeys & a Washtub will soon be hosting a great giveaway from CSN stores where you'll be able to pick from pretty much anything from A to Z at their 250+ sites. You can find just about anything at the CSN stores from a bathroom vanity and lighting fixtures to new purses (my personal favorite)! There are days when I wish I had a little girl to pamper with all the cute furnishings that I never had growing up...I love this Fairy Wishes Vanity & Stool Set!

CSN stores also carry some great pet gear! I love this Petrageous pet travel dining kit!

I hope you're getting excited! There are so many options and most of the items have free shipping too! Check out CSN Stores to learn more about all of the options today and visit soon for more giveaway info!

Friday's Kid-Tested Recipe: Frozen Fresh Fruit Popsicles!

I hate sneaking food into my children's diets, so I thought I would share some of the recipes that I make with my kids (ages 3 & 2)! When kids help cook, they rarely avoid the food because they helped to make it! I'll try to note steps that even the youngest children can help with in the kitchen! Eventhough my recipes are kid-tested, they are definitely suitable for adults too! This is definitely a recipe for you, even if you don't have kids!

Frozen Fresh Fruit Popsicles!

What kid doesn't love Popsicles? This is a great summer treat and it's really easy to make!
What you'll need!
Kool-Aid (Punch or Lemonade works well)
Fresh strawberries or other sweet berries (can use frozen, just thaw before use)

How to make them!
Prepare Kool-Aid (you can use sugar-sweetened or sugar-free, although the sugar-sweetened last longer in the freezer and freezes more uniformly)!
Puree the berries in a blender (after washing them and removing any stems)!

Mix the Kool-Aid and berries together and stir well!
Take small paper cups (Dixie cups work well) and fill each cup about 3/4 full with the mixture! Insert one Popsicle stick in the cup and place in the freezer!

Hint: If you don't think they will be consumed within a week, you may want to bag them in zipper bags once they have frozen to avoid freezer burn! I didn't put specific measurements, because you can make a large or small batch of Popsicles.

For 6 Popsicles, you can assume 1/3C Kool-Aid to 4 Med-Large Strawberries! In addition, if you like your berries chunkier, just don't puree as long!

Another great variety to this recipe is to use pureed watermelon - no juice needed! These are yummy!

Blog Hop Friday!

Blog Hop Friday, hosted by My New Life As Mom, Chubby Cheeks Thinks, Take A Mom's Word For It, Bree Bee's, This Adventure Our Life and Belly Charms! Join the fun by clicking on the cute little froggy and linking up your blog! If you're visiting - thanks for stopping by! Leave me a comment and let me know you're new here and I will follow you back too!