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Real Solutions for Real Parents by Autumn Rose Reo

Be on Santa’s List Each Monday with $500 Christmas Shopping Spree {Giveaway}

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SponsoredPostDisclaimer

Right now my life is all about lists.

Lists of what the kids want for Christmas. Lists for what I’m getting for relatives. Lists of all the things I haven’t done yet that have to be complete before the end of the year.


But the one list that is on the bottom of the pile is MY LIST. The things I’d love to have if there weren’t bills, kid wants, and responsibilities in the way. You know MAMA’S SANTA LIST.

Santa-List

And I’m not talking like a million dollars – I mean $500 to do what I wanted with no regrets or obligations except for me to enjoy them.

Right now you can enter to win your own $500 Christmas Shopping Spring!

Every Monday in December a new winner will win a $500 Visa Gift Card!

Do Good for the Good of Others with Giving Tuesday, Dec. 2

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This is a sponsored post. However, my personal experience with GivingForward is all my own and makes it easy to share my thoughts about the importance of Giving Tuesday.

It’s crazy to think how much money has been spent just over Brown Thursday, Black Friday, or Cyber Monday.

If only 10% of the total could go to support true giving; a moment of total selfless acts and gifts that don’t turn into gifts under the tree, but amount to so much more.


Giving-Tuesday#GivingTuesday #GiveForward

Today, Tuesday, December 2, Giving Tuesday is a day dedicated to true giving. Giving Tuesday’s goal is to boost humanity rather than the economy. It’s about doing good for the good of others.

Just about a year ago, my son’s wish to Go to Disney World was granted by A Wish with Wings and Give Kids the World. For one week our family was giving a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate all that my son, a child with a Congenital Heart Defect, had been through in his short six years. It was a moment we will remember forever and was only possible through the tireless donations and giving of organizations and individuals committed to making dreams come true for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Jackson-Belle-Disney

Recently, I felt like I could pay it forward when my best friend’s mother was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. A mother of three children, Cindy had often taken in many “kids” over the year and was always on the bleachers to cheer you on. Knowing that treatments would be expensive and tedious, many of us started our own spirit squad to repay the same favor Cindy had done for us. In efforts to raise money for Cindy, we launched a GiveForward page to raise money for others that wanted to help. GiveForward is the easy, online fundraising platform to help raise money for a loved one in need with the help of

Celebrate-Cindy

In addition to a one-night fundraiser and our GiveForward page, we’ve raised almost $30,000.

So how can you GiveForward and make a difference? Remember, it doesn’t have to be a big check to make a big impact. On Giving Tuesday give time or money to a cause or person you care about. Buy a trailing customer’s morning coffee to warm and brighten her winter day. Rake your grandparents’ leaves before snow blankets their yard. Contribute cash to a non-profit like A Wish with Wings to celebrate children affected with diseases like CHD.

Acts of true giving take place every day on GiveForward, but Giving Tuesday is a wonderful time to reflect on how both small and large gifts make great impacts. Share your Giving Tuesday moments today by using the hashtags #GivingTuesday and #GiveForward. Or post a #UNselfie with what you’re doing for Giving Tuesday.

Now, go forth and give!

 

 

How Chef Tim Love Remeals Thanksgiving Leftovers

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Cooking-with-Chef-Tim-Love

Thanksgiving is full of deliciousness.

Mom’s Turkey, grandma’s cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie…they all get to play centerstage on Turkey Day, but after its first appearance at the table, it’s never quite as special.


So they all turn into leftovers.

But what can you do those dishes just as good as they were when you served them?

Recently, I was invited to eat with a few of my friends to cook up Thanksgiving leftovers with Chef Tim Love.

The chef known for his original urban-Texas dishes (and his iconic cowboy hat as he cooks up first-class food on Food Network), opened up his kitchen for a few of us to challenge him to retool/remeal using Thanksgiving leftovers.

A long-time fan of Chef Tim Love, (who hangs his hat in Fort Worth) the afternoon was full of lots of laughs, tons of tips and of course, phenomenal food. Honestly, this was one of those moments I could have just pinched myself. “Kitchen redevelopment with Tim Love” – I could mark off my bucket list.

We create many interesting dishes (Nutella, blue cheese and pickled peppers were just some of the ingredients we used, but we did come up with one real winner – The Thanksgiving Leftovers English Muffin…And in Chef Tim Love fashion, we added a little quail egg to make it complete.

Turkey-Thanksgiving-Leftovers-Tim-Love

The only other thing better I could have asked for is to spend Thanksgiving with Chef Tim Love…

Chef-Tim-Love-Autumn-Reo-MamaChallenge.com

However, since he had already bought the tickets for his family to spend Thanksgiving in Europe and eating Turkey Day at his favorite restaurant in Paris, I guess I understand why I didn’t get an invitation. 😉

Arsenal! Arsenal! Unfortunately we lost to Man U on an own goal! Stadium was awesome! #London

A photo posted by Tim Love (@cheftimlove) on

 Make sure to watch the video for the recipe! 

Thanksgiving-Leftovers-English-Muffin-Tim-Love

 

Holiday Hot List with Verizon

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Holiday is a busy time for everyone. And for a blogger it’s “go time” and that means I often get the inside scoop on hot list items like toys, gift ideas and a lot of stuff in between.

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Some of the fun coming up includes a look at some of Verizon’s best tech for Christmas. While I’m part of the unveiling, I won’t know until I go what devices will hit the shelves just in time for the holidays.


However, I did find out a few biggies to be on the watch out for this season:

Wednesday, Nov. 26 is Connection Day
Verizon is giving its customers the gift of 1GB of data at no extra cost and providing amazing giveaways and discounts for Verizon customers and NON-Verizon customers the day before Thanksgiving.

Here are a list of the discounts:

  • Apple: $4.99 credit toward any app store/iTunes purchase*
  • Amazon: Selection of 10 free/discounted apps, two free Audible book downloads (new members) and $10 Audible credit (current members), Amazon Prime 30-day free trial (new users)
  • Conde Nast: Free Digital Edition downloads of all 18 Conde Nast Publications, including Wired, Vanity Fair and GQ
  • Free Wi-Fi: 30-minute complimentary Internet sessions through Boingo Wireless (at airports) and Gogo Technologies (inflight)
  • JetBlue: Free internet for the duration of flights between November 27 and December 24.
  • Pandora Media: Free seven-day trial of Pandora One**
  • Verizon FiOS: five to seven full length Video on Demand titles available through the FiOS preview app (iOS /Android/Kindle) 11/26 – 11/30

VerizonHoliday #VZHoliday

Droid Turbo by Motorola
Remember when I went to my first Dallas Cowboys game and realized my only real connection was my friend’s Verizon phone?  With it comes a turbo processor with 2.7 GHz speed. Keep going all day and night with Turbo charging† and up to 48-hour battery life*. See every detail with the 5.2-inch Quad HD display and 21-megapixel camera. With Metallized Glass Fiber, it’s as strong as it is quick. Only on Verizon.

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As I get more info, especially on December 4, I’ll make sure to update you on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!

Easy Ways to Teach Kids to be Giving and Grateful

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At this time of the year we are reminded to give thanks for the good things in our lives.  It’s also a great time to teach kids to be giving and grateful.

Teaching-Kids-to-be-Giving-and-Grateful

Here are a number of ideas this holiday as well as throughout the year to teach kids to give back. Many of these suggestions don’t require a lot of work, are fun and can help create an even stronger bond as a family unit.

Start the Conversation


Teaching the basics of giving with Saving and Giving Jars
The premise is simple: have two jars – one designated for saving and the other for giving. Depending on your child’s allowance or age, you can have them allocate a certain amount of money each time they put money in the jar. For example $1 means 90 cents for saving and then 10 cents for giving.

Santa Letters
Writing Santa letters makes a great way to talk about giving to kids less fortunate than your own. I have a great free printable for Santa letters you can print off and start the conversation today.

Make a Thankful Tree
With two kids under the age of 7, it seems like they wouldn’t be able to understand that not everyone lives in a home with a family and served three meals every day. But by asking them what things they are grateful for can be a great conversation starter. This tree is easy to put together and I’ve seen several versions of them – some are drawn on paper, some are painted with handprints, but for this one, we gather sticks from outdoors and talked about what we were thankful for. When I explained that some kids don’t have their favorite named toy or even a mama, they begin to ask questions and are primed for talking about the importance of giving back.

“I am Thankful…”at Galleria Dallas
“I AM THANKFUL FOR…” PRESENTED BY THE EURASIAN ASSOCIATION OF DFW
Level 2, Martin Lawrence Galleries
The exhibit displays the meaning of Thanksgiving among children of different cultures, with works grouped in different age categories: Under 5 years, 5-7 years, 8-10 years, 11-14 years, and 15-18 years.
Opens today – Dec. 7

http://www.galleriadallas.com

No Matter their Age, Kids Can Help to Give

Crafting for Good

Crafts are actually a great way to help children learn about giving. For instance, they can create a place mats or a centerpiece to put in with your Pantry Box for Metrocrest Services. On the website they provide a list of what they need and you can purchase them, put in the placemats and they will stock them in their pantry or during the holidays, they will pack them with the holiday food deliveries. If you prefer, you can actually attend a Family Night and for an hour the organization will do a family craft for 30 minutes and the family can stock the pantry with donated goods.

http://www.metrocrestservices.org

Collecting Everyday Goods

Toilet paper, paper towels, toothpaste – these are all things we take for granted. But at the Arlington Life Shelter, individuals and families that don’t have anywhere to live are provided these basics necessities to help them sleep somewhere warm and receive a warm meal while getting the skills they needs to get back out there. They always post their current needs list online and on their billboard, so you can have the kids put together the box and  on your designated day, make the drop off.

http://arlingtonlifeshelter.org

Be on Their Level

Adopt an Angel and Toys for Tots
A tradition for many families and organizations at the holiday, you can get in the sprit of giving on a level kids can really understand since you are giving to kids in your child’s age range.  You can find Adopt an Angel trees in shopping centers throughout DFW, but some families are so busy they can’t get to the tree! So they’ve made it easy and you now can adopt a kid online, make your purchase and then drop of them off at a designated locations. And Toys for Tots, which FOX 4 is a sponsor of, is a phenomenal organization led by the US Marines.  The process gives your kids a  hands-on opportunity to buy the gifts they want for the age they want and then drop them off for distribution.

http://dfwangeltree.org

http://dfwtoysfortots.org

Host a Giving Party 
Instead of having guests to a holiday party or for your child’s  birthday  party, ask guests to bring gifts to give to a charity your child chooses. For instance, you could hold a PJ Party and ask guests to give blankets or teddy bears. Many organizations need both of those for patients at children’s hospitals like Children’s Health. Once year we asked for socks for teens and they were given to kids in the hospital so they had something fun to keep their feet warm and are fun!

Teaching Good Means Being Good

Be a Good Example of Giving 
Remember kids learn by watching so be a good example. December 2 is #Giving Tuesday, a global initiative to raise money for nonprofits #GivingTuesday is a global giving campaign.Your generous donations will not only allow us to continue fulfilling wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses and provide them an experience of a lifetime at Give Kids The World, but they will also count twice! An anonymous donor will match every donation made on #GivingTuesday, up to $20,000.

www.gktw.org/givingtuesday (This donation page will only be accessible on December 2nd and will be open for 24 hours. )

PicassoQuote

Free Santa Letter from the North Pole {Free Printable}

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While there are many fun and cool services to keep the spirit of Santa alive for your children, there’s still nothing like getting something in the mail – especially when it’s a free Santa letter from the North Pole!

I know every day my kids ask if there’s anything for them. So now you do and it’s even got a postal mark from the North Pole to prove it – courtesy of the United States Postal Service, USPS. Best of all, with the exception of the postage, it’s free, promotes a writing activity with your child and will be huge when they get the letter with the stamp from the North Pole!

Santa-Stamp


Here are the steps for your child to get a letter back from Santa:

1. Have your child write a letter to Santa and seal it in an envelope addressed to: Santa Claus, North Pole.

2. Tell your child that you’ll place a stamp on the envelope and mail it to St. Nick for him or her.

3. Later, when alone, open the envelope, read the letter and write Santa’s response on the back of the child’s letter. Have Santa write: “It’s important to be green and save paper. That’s why I’m writing on the back.”

4. When responding as Santa, reference your child’s accomplishments not included in his or her letter, i.e., Santa is so proud that you volunteered to help ____, or Santa is really impressed with the great job you’re doing in school — especially with math, etc. Sign it Santa Claus with a P.S. to get to bed early Christmas Eve.

5. Place the letter into a new envelope addressed to the child at his or her home. Be sure to include: Santa Claus, North Pole, as the return address on the envelope. Don’t forget to apply a First-Class stamp — such as a recently issued Santa or Rudolph Forever stamp.

6. Place the stamped envelope in a larger envelope (or Priority Mail envelope) with adequate postage addressed to:
NORTH POLE HOLIDAY POSTMARK
POSTMASTER 4141
POSTMARK DR
ANCHORAGE AK 99530-9998

Letters from Santa must be received by the Anchorage, AK, Postmaster no later than Dec. 15, 2014.

The Anchorage Postmaster will open the envelope, remove Santa’s letter addressed to your child, apply the North Pole postmark and mail it back home. When Santa’s letter arrives, have your camera ready when you ask your child to open the letter and read it to you.

And to make it even easier, here’s a cute free Santa printable for you to download and print! 

Share the photos on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #SantaLetters. Keep the letters and the photos in a scrapbook as a great family keepsake.

The Letters to Santa program adds to the excitement of Christmas and is perfect for interesting youngsters in letter writing.

Remember, the Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

 

Shave the Date: Movember Ends Nov. 30 {Giveaway}

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The handle bar.

The pencil thin.

The Pizza Inn.


Actually, I can go on for days of all the different kinds of mustaches that you’ve probably seen this month throughout Movember.

Some of them good. Some of them not so good.

Movember

Started  as an effort in Austraila in 2013, Movember has grown to a 21-country effort that in 2013 had more than 219,000 participants and raised more $23 million. And let’s not even begin to count all the amount of hair that was cut when it was over.

However, it’s not really about the beards.  Remember Movember is about getting men to talk about men’s health issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health problems.

But when it’s all said and done…thankfully many men will take it off (we hope) and The Boardroom is ready to help us all do it in style.  A proud supporter of Movember, Nov. 29 & 30,  men will receive 50 percent off an Express Shave with a $5 donation to the Movember Foundation.  The Boardroom is also hosting a ‘Celebrate Movember’ contest, offering Facebook fans the opportunity to win free weekly mustache trims and a free Benchmark haircut service. For each contest entry received, Boardroom will donate $10 to the Movember Foundation.

Movember

With 12 locations in DFW, including: Dallas, Addison, Las Colinas, Plano, Frisco, Fort Worth, Southlake and Highland Village, the Boardroom Salon for Men was created to provide a cool, comfortable, masculine place for men to get a great haircut, shave, facial or other spa service – the ultimate relaxed grooming experience for men.

But I’m making sure for one lucky man is rewarded for his moustache-growing with either a free Benchmark haircut or a free Hot Lather Shave (both valued at $55). What a great gift for that special man!  

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Make the Holidays Count with Help from Market Street

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Disclaimer: I’m thrilled to be partnering with Market Street to highlight features, deals and more each month! #MarketStreetTX

Oh, the holidays. 

My favorite time of the year.  And honestly, one of the hardest times of the year, too.


I love all the decorations, the music, the tradition, the parties, the gifts…Unfortunately, that all takes work. A lot of work. And normally, that’s up to me. I want so much for things to be perfect. To look a certain way, be a certain way, and to be a remembered a certain way.

Market-Street-Signature-Holiday-Meals#ad
But after many years of hard work, I’ve decided that what really counts is the time we spend together. The friends I haven’t seen don’t care I spent countless hours preparing my house to look like the magazines. My family doesn’t care mom spent days putting together the perfect holiday meal. And they really don’t care if when everything’s all over, that there’s hours of cleaning up – at least not enough to pitch in (HA!)

Market-Street-Signature-Holiday-Meals

So this year, it’s time to decide what is really important. I want to entertain and I want it to be good, but I don’t always have the time to put in.

That’s where my friends at Market Street make it SO easy to create the right party set up for friends or the holiday meal that your family will be talking about for years!

Market-Street-Signature-Holiday-Meals

Just take a look at this quick, but delicious party, but it certainly doesn’t look like it’s from a container (and I didn’t do anything, but put it in the oven and then on the table.) I just went to Market Street, picked it up and served it up!

Market-Street-Signature-Holiday-Meals

 

Market-Street-Signature-Holiday-Meals

MARKET STREET SIGNATURE ITEMS

Smoked Gouda Pimiento Dip

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Market Street Cheese Balls

Artisan Breads (cracked pepper parmesan, white chocolate apricot, good n’ grainy)

Texas Brownies

Thumbprint cookies

Bacon Wrapped Quail with jalapeno

Stuffed Pork Loin

Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Stuffed Roulade (flank steak stuffed with fresh ingredients.)

Market-Street-Signature-Holiday-Meals

Or you can get Market Street to put together the whole holiday meal for you with just one order! Take a look at the tasty Turkey Day or Christmas Dinner at http://marketstreetdfw.com/holidaydinners! My Market Street even has a separate drive-through and they will bring out your meal to you! Now that’s easy holiday entertaining!

Market-Street-Signature-Holiday-Meals

Move Over Elf on a Shelf…Roaming Reindeers are Here! {Giveaway}

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I was provided a complimentary copy for purposes of this review. However, my comments here are all my own. Affiliate link is included. 

I could spend all night looking at those Elf on the Shelf ideas on Babies Rabies. Unfortunately, I can’t keep up the pace of the creative ideas on a daily basis or add one more thing to my “after the kids go to bed” list.

Thankfully, another mom felt the same pressure and gave us parents another alternative to the Elf.


Roaming-Reindeer-Kit-Horizontal

Angela Meju’s Christmas keepsake and children’s book, Roaming Reindeer™, is a tale celebrating teamwork, good manners and the holiday season, and serves as a fresh, new Christmas tradition for families and classrooms around the country.

Roaming Reindeer™ is centered on Gus and Sam, two of Santa’s reindeer, who decide to help Santa by visiting little girls and boys to report back on who is naughty and who is nice.

When the pair realize there isn’t enough time to visit all of the children, they call on their friends for help. The reindeers are sent off in pairs of two and are assigned a home to visit. Reindeer 1 is in charge of going back to Santa to report naughty children while Reindeer 2 stays to keep watch.

Roaming-Reindeer-Kit-Insider

The gift box set comes in a keepsake box which includes a Reindeer 1 and Reindeer 2. They stay in one place in the home together – until the kids are naughty, so Reindeer 1 leaves to give Santa a report. Children and siblings will keep a close eye to make sure their reindeer stay together until Christmas Eve, when they leave to help Santa deliver presents—until returning next year to keep watch! Retail cost is $34.95 and is available at Amazon. 

Roaming-Reindeer-Kit

Author Angela Meju is a nurse who currently lives in Austin with her husband and two children. She was inspired to write Roaming Reindeer™ to create her own Christmas tradition with her children, whose excitement and anticipation of Santa’s arrival grows every year.

Win your Roaming Reindeer Kit!

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Insta-Thanksgiving: Turkey Flavored Popcorn and Apple Pie Juice

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 I received product for purposes of this review. All comments here are all my own. 

Are you too busy this Thanksgiving to cook up a beautiful bird, stuffing and the works?

Or is everyone got some much on their plate (pun intended) that they don’t have time to come home and enjoy the American holiday?


Or are you watching that waistline, but are craving just one bite of fresh baked apple pie?

Don’t worry we’ve got the solution for you and we aren’t talking catering or a non-fat version of pie.

Nope.

KingofPop.com Thanksgiving Feast Delivery

And it’s better than mashed potato flakes, too.

Gourmet popcorn in all the flavors of Thanksgiving.

KingOfPop.com “popcorn-ized” the big meal this year via the Thanksgiving Popcorn Feast – nine flavors of popcorn combined to give you every taste of a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. Flavors include: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, apple pie, pumpkin pie and strawberry cheesecake. This would be a creative hostess gift, or a real surprise for kids at the feast who expected to yawn their
way through another Thanksgiving. Available at GourmetGiftBaskets.com for $34.99.

Popcorn that tastes like Thanksgiving Dinner

While I didn’t pop open the sides, I did eagerly dive into a bag of Pumpkin Pie popcorn and it fit the bill. So I went ahead and finished it off, much like I’d like to do a Thanksgiving except this time it’s one kernel at time.

Right after Thanksgiving, GourmetGiftBaskets.com is offering the Holiday Gourmet Popcorn Sampler, which includes: Gingerbread, Dark Chocolate Orange, Eggnog, Holiday Anise Cookie, Cinnamon Bun, Dark Chocolate Peppermint, White Chocolate Peppermint, Tuxedo, and Strawberry Cheesecake-flavored popcorns ($39.99).

But we haven’t just popcorned Thanksgiving…they’ve juiced it, too.

holiday-group

Old Orchard Brands, just introduced a new line of limited-edition fruit juice cocktails to celebrate the iconic flavors of fall. Apple Pie, Caramel Apple and Apple Cherry Cobbler fruit juice cocktails are available in stores beginning in November and are the perfect additions to the season. Sweetened naturally and are made with real fruit juice, the three cocktails contain no artificial colors or preservatives. Apple Pie features hints of cinnamon, vanilla bean and nutmeg. Caramel Apple’s creamy caramel taste complements the flavor of crisp fall apples. Apple Cherry Cobbler features a blend of late summer cherries, a hint of lemon and the sweetness of juicy red apple. For a list of retailers featuring the Old Orchard limited-edition fall cocktail juices, visit

Best of all, pretty sure you won’t turn into a blueberry or be wheeled out for juicing if you take a taste.

But I would suggest brushing your teeth after munching on the Roasted Vegetables popcorn.

Wanna try the three Old Orchard Juice blends?

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