Category Archives: Contest

We’ve Got the Power! MyCharge Giveaway!

 

We've got the power! myCharge Giveaway! Keep yourself connected even when your battery is dragging like a mom at the end of the school day.

Keep yourself connected even when your battery is dragging like a mom right before bedtime.

The kids are back to school, but there’s no rest for the weary! With the school year in full swing, there’s no slowing down. In fact, things can start getting pretty hectic with your work, your kids’ homework, after-school clubs, sports, music lessons, carpools, birthday parties, and play dates . . . the list goes on and on!

Even the most organized of Moms will tell you things can change at the last minute, and you, of all people, can’t afford to run out of power . . . we mean for your phone or tablet, of course!

And you’re in luck because myCharge knows how important it is for you to stay charged and connected all day–and all school year–long, so they’re giving the gift of portable power. You’ll never be left in the red again!

To keep you charged and connected myCharge is giving 3 lucky winners each an iPad mini with a myCharge HUB 6000 portable charger!

The amazingly compact Hub 6000 features built-in cables and connectors for smartphones, tablets, e-readers and more. Get up to 27 hours of additional talk time for your devices, as well as integrated, quick-charge wall prongs. The Hub series is commonly known as the “Swiss Army Knife of portable power devices.

 

myCharge HUB6000

You NEED this in your life!

 

Additionally, 40 winners will each receive an Energy Shot compact portable charger for their smartphones that delivers an additional boost when you need it most. They come in a variety of styles and can give you up to 10 hours of talk time! (Please note, smart phone not included in giveaway).

 

energyshotvarieties

So cute and functional!

 

So Moms, stay out of the red this school year! myCharge is here to keep you charged and connected! For more information on products visit the myCharge website or follow them on Facebook. You can find myCharge products at retailers such as Target and Kohl’s.

Giveaway is open from September 15, 2014 until October 15, 2014. Fill out the entry form below for your chance to be one of 40 winners to receive an Energy Shot Charger (10 winners randomly selected each week) and one of 3 grand prize winners randomly selected on October 15, 2014 to receive one iPad Mini with a myCharge HUB 6000 portable charger. Entrants must be at least 18 years of age or older, must live in the United States and have a valid shipping address. See giveaway form for complete list of rules and details.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is a sponsored post from myCharge, but we were supercharged to bring you a chance to win one of these fabulous prizes.

 

You can follow us on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Check out our books, “I Just Want to Be Alone” and “You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth.”

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How to Run a Facebook Flash Giveaway

Facebook used to be the land of ease and happiness. You would post something, and ::gasp::, the people who had “Liked” your Page would see it. Now Facebook is as tedious as a seventh grade algebra class with its algorithms and formulas. You can have thousands of followers and because of the “new social media math,” your posts will be seen by 278. As Victor Luckerson wrote for TIME, “The Free-Marketing Gravy Train is Over on Facebook.”

You may think, “Quit your whining and, furthermore, why bother? Just let Facebook go and move on to Google+ and Twitter.” However, the cold, hard facts are that many companies offering paid blogging opportunities still want to see your number of Facebook followers. Those numbers can equal cash in your PayPal.

So how to increase those numbers? Facebook wants you to pay for promotion, but if  Veritasium is to be believed, and he presents a very good case, promoting for “Likes” can actually send your engagement spiraling into the toilet. We have sadly seen this happen to friends. What is the point of getting new “Likes” if Facebook then shows your posts to 8% of your followers? It certainly is not worth the $100 Facebook personally wants to charge us to promote a SINGLE post. Boo Facebook.

But we have found and tested another way to get our Page hopping that is actually, dare we say, fun: The Facebook Flash Giveaway (FF Giveaway).

This type of giveaway became possible when Facebook changed its promotion guidelines on Aug. 27, 2013. You are now allowed to run a giveaway directly on your Page’s timeline whereas you had to use a third party app before.

This is a round robin type giveaway lasting 24 hours where people can move from linked Page to Page entering a separate giveaway on each one. The last Page in line links to the first Page in line. It’s like infinity personified.

It is also quick, cheap, and easy.

To get started, you need:

  • A group of friends to make up your round robin whom you can trust to start and stop the giveaway on time and send out their prizes. At least four other Pages need to participate to create momentum.
  • A prize valued between $10 and $20.
  • This prompt:

**FLASH GIVEAWAY!**
Because I appreciate my Facebook fans, I would like to give one of you [insert your prize here]  (open to US only)!

HOW TO ENTER: Like my page and this post, and simply leave a comment on this post [insert your comment prompt here]!

This is the giveaway that keeps on giving! There are [some number] other bloggers involved in this giveaway! Hop through to [link to the name of Page after you] to enter her giveaway and to find out where to go next! Hurry, this FLASH GIVEAWAY ends in 24 hours!

*This giveaway is sponsored by [insert your Facebook Page here] and is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. Giveaway is only open from [Day, date, and time including time zone] until [Day, date, and time zone 24 hours later]. One winner will be selected at random and will be announced (and tagged) in another post.

 Now the How-To Steps:

How to Run a Facebook Flash Giveaway

1. Select Your Participants

As mentioned before, these should be trustworthy people because if one person does not post on time, the round robin flops. You need at least four other Pages to make it fun, but consider that the more people involved, the more unwieldy it can become. We had seven Pages in our FF Giveaway.

2. Discuss Prizes

The great thing is, because there are so many cumulative prize opportunities, no prize has to be extravagant. Gift cards are fantastic because you can electronically send them and have the contest ended and wrapped up in fifteen minutes. But make sure participants have a chance to discuss so everyone is not giving away the same retailer or there is an (embarrassing) discrepancy in amounts. We gave away a “Suburban Survival Pack”: a copy of Suburban Haiku and a $15 Starbucks E-Gift Card.

Have each participant make her comment prompt tie in with her prize. Ours was “simply leave a comment on this post letting us know if you live in the suburbs, city, or country!”

3. Make a Graphic for Promotion

A good size for Facebook is a 1200 x 1200. We use PicMonkey for all of our editing needs. Behold what we created for our FF Giveaway.

No Foolin Facebook Flash Giveaway

4. Determine the Order

We roughly ordered the Pages from most amount of followers to least amount of followers. We sent this out in an email to the participants along with what prizes had been selected.

5. Determine the Time

Be careful that everyone is clear about the time zone. We had a participant in California so we chose the start and stop times as 11:00 AM EDT. Agreement about the end time is even more crucial because everyone must be available to edit their status updates to read “This Contest Has Ended.”

6. Schedule your Status Update

No one has to hover poised over her keyboard to publish on time because of the Facebook Scheduling Tool.  Cut and paste your prompt then schedule for the designated start time.

One very important note: Only post your giveaway prompt ONCE or you will muddle your winner selection.

Facebook Status Update Scheduling

 7. Promotion

You can write a blog post promoting the giveaway, but we did not. We just posted a teaser on Facebook the day before. On the day of, we promoted on Google+, Twitter, and Pinterest using the graphic and the URL for our Facebook status update.

IMPORTANT: You can NEVER ask for the status update to be SHARED. This violates Facebook guidelines.

Here is how you get that URL:

Getting the Facebook Status Update URL

This is how we promoted the FF Giveaway update on Facebook the next morning.

Promoting the Giveaway on Facebook

8. Pin Your Status Update to The Top of Your Wall

One of the beautiful things about the FF Giveaway is that people are actually being directed to your Page instead of just interacting with you in the Newsfeed. Your lovely Facebook cover photo will actually be seen (make sure it’s good) and maybe you can hook in some new blog fans. But you must make sure the FF Giveaway post is the first thing they see when they visit. Since you’ll probably post other things during the 24 hours the contest is running, you will need to “pin” your post to the top.

Pinning Your Update to the Top of Your Wall

9. Relax for 24 hours.

Whistle, whistle. Twiddle thumbs. We’re just kidding. We meant you don’t have to do anything else to tend to the contest. You still have to wipe noses, find shoes, and taxi everyone around.

10. End the Contest

At the end time, go in and edit the status (you can see the edit option in the previous image) by adding at the top: **This Giveaway Has Ended**. Unpin the update from the top of your Page.

11. Select a Winner

So easy. There’s an app that will select your winner from the comments and let you notify him or her directly through Facebook: Rafflecopter Facebook Flash Giveaway App.

Rafflecopter FF Giveaway

Important: The app only shows your last seven status updates. For us, our giveaway was status number 9. Waa, waaa. We had to go back to our Facebook Page, delete two posts that were more recent than our contest, and then relaunch the app. Voilà, our giveaway now appeared as a choice, but it would have been easier to not post as many things during the contest period.

So you select your post, click on “Pick a Random Winner” and the app gives you a name within seconds. You can click on the envelope beside the name to contact him or her immediately. We always take screenshots of our winners, just to cover our bases.

Important: The app is run through the personal account you used to create your Page. The winner will be notified through your personal account, so if you don’t want that to happen, you should contact through your Page and NOT use the envelope icon.

Pick A Random Winner

12. Get your winner’s details and send out the prize!

Benefits:

  • For minimal effort and cost, each participating Page (with followers ranging from 8,400 to 800) got around 40 new “Likes” in the 24 hours.
  • These were high quality “Likes” that were apt to stay around and engage because they were “referred” from similar genre Pages.
  • We entertained our followers. We got so much positive feedback about how fun the contest was.
  • Our “Talking About This” Facebook number rose to %115 of our followers; something we had not seen in a long time and something that kept the “Likes” rolling in even after the contest had ended.

 Cons:

  • Explaining to our friends exactly what a Facebook Flash Giveaway was, but now YOU have this post.

So go try your own giveaway, but first, could you give us a little “Like” on Facebook? You saw that coming, right?

-Ellen and Erin

You can also follow us on Google+, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Check out our books, please, “I Just Want to Be Alone” and “You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth.”

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Giant Summer Reading Giveaway

Friends are the most valuable assets you can have and you all are about to reap some value from the friends we have. Sound like a cryptic fortune cookie to you? It’s really simpler than that. We, and about 20+ blogger friends, are having a massive giveaway organized by the truly talented Robyn of Hollow Tree Ventures. Go check her out after you enter to win your loot. It’s the friendly thing to do.

giant summer reading giveaway

So on with the giveaway. Picture yourself poolside, or lounging on the beach. It’s nice, right? But it could be better. What you need are some great books to make you laugh, and some seriously stylish summer accessories. Well, we have you covered.

First up, we’re giving away six (count ’em, SIX) funny books that you probably already own because you have such great taste. But if, by chance, you’ve been busy reading the dictionary cover to cover or you tried to buy these and Amazon was all like, “Sorry, too slow, sucker. Sold out!” today’s your lucky day!

Paige

At Least My Belly Hides My Cankles: Mostly-True Tales of an Impending Miracle is the debut novel of the amazing Paige Kellerman, of There’s More Where That Came From. In it, she props her cankles up on the coffee table of your heart and tells the tale of her pregnancy with twins, from the reluctant announcement of the pregnancy test results to the experience of being hoisted awkwardly (is there any other way?) onto the delivery table. You’ll be able to relate to every word, and Paige’s unique storytelling style will keep you laughing, guaranteed.

abby has issues

Abby Still Has Issues is the second book by Abby Heugel of the award-winning blog, Abby Has Issues. It features a ton of laugh-out-loud essays that could only be plucked from that wonderfully neurotic head full of issues we all love so well. Laugh along as she admits to being smelly (it’s not what you think), converses with her pants, and reveals why other countries hate us (hint: it’s our eyelashes). Intrigued? YOU SHOULD BE. Because it’s full of awesome.

IJWTPA

I Just Want To Pee Alone, a hilarious collection of hilarious essays about motherhood by 37 hilarious mothers, covers every parenting topic from planning for your baby, to being driven insane by your children, to… wait, are there other parenting topics? Yes, don’t be silly, of course there are. There’s something for everyone in this #1 best selling humor anthology which, I don’t mind saying, at one point ranked ahead of Tina Fey’s Bossypants – a fact that many of the co-authors plan to have engraved on their tombstones.

RObin

Ketchup is a Vegetable: And Other Lies Moms Tell Themselves by Robin O’Bryant of Robin’s Chicks is full of funny stories about motherhood, sex talks, the terror of car trips, and all those eye-roll inducing, forehead-vein popping, laugh-out-loud things that bond parents together under the flag of Oh Thank Heavens, It Isn’t Just Me.

dad or alive

Also win a copy of Adrian Kulp’s hilarious book Dad or Alive: Confessions of an Unexpected Stay-at-Home Dad, which is based on his popular blog DadorAlive.com. With chapters like “She’s Gonna Have Daddy Issues” you know this book will be funny, relatable and just a little bit twisted (in the best possible way).

anna luther
And we understand that you’ll need to keep the kids occupied if you’re hoping to get enough time to yourself to read a book with more than eight syllables per page. That’s why we’re also giving away 75 Ways To Have More Fun At Home, a fantastic e-book by Anna of My Life and Kids that’s absolutely bursting with activities for your kids. These are cheap-to-free, unique, realistic ideas for things that real people could and would actually do. You don’t want another summer day to go by without it!

I can say, without fear of hyperbole, that you’re entire summer will be a complete waste of time if you don’t read these books – so in the event that you don’t win this amazing prize package, check out the links and buy your own copies. You’ll be glad you did.

Now, while you’re enjoying these fabulous books, you want to look fabulous too, don’t you? Never fear, we have that covered, too!

headbandsTo keep the hair out of your face while you’re reading (or while you’re serving up a wicked ace on the beach volleyball court), you’ll need headbands and hair ties from A Girl and Her Band. These suckers are nonslip, moisture wicking, antimicrobial and machine washable, not to mention cute as all getout. A Girl and Her Band is a company started by regular (but fantastic) mamas who support and empower active girls, and give back to the community by donating a portion of all website sales to a different charity each month. They’ve generously offered up three headbands of your choosing, and they’re throwing in a 5-pack of matching hair ties, too! Their company makes your heart feel as good as your hair will with this essential set of accessories.

As if that weren’t enough to make you look like a million bucks while you’re enjoying your summer reading, you’ll also get a Vera Bradley Summer Pack, which includes a Vera Bradley sarong, a small mesh tote, and a beach towel in the gorgeous Go Wild pattern.

vera bradley

AND, just in case we missed anything, we’re throwing in a $125.00 Amazon gift card so you can treat yourself to something special (I don’t know if Amazon sells fruity drinks in coconuts with little umbrellas in bulk quantities, but I’d look into that if I were you).

ENOUGH ALREADY, you say! I’m interested, so how do I enter?!?

To qualify: You must be able to read, or know someone who is willing to read to you, and live in the United States.

Recommended: Tissues, for laughter-induced tear blotting. Large-rimmed Jackie O sunglasses for increased mysterious cool factor. A few seconds of free time here and there for reading.

Required: Do the little Rafflecopter thingy. Winner will be chosen at random and notified after the giveaway closes on Sunday, July 21. If there’s no response from the winner within 24 hours, another winner will be chosen and so on until we decide just to keep everything for ourselves. (We’re kidding, of course. OR ARE WE? Yes, we’re kidding.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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June Finding the Funny: Sometimes We Are Not So Sensible #Giveaway

Being sensible is kind of our schtick. It’s in our name for crying out loud. But every once in a while I wonder about myself.

I began the other day to clean out the basement. Sensible, right? My youngest is 12 years old and we still had moldy Play-Doh sets and ancient preschool supplies taking up valuable real estate on our shelves. A truly sensible woman probably would have gotten to it sooner, but as I delved deeper,  I had bigger things to worry about than my sensibility. I unearthed something that made me question my sanity:

Do you see the size of this bag!?!

Do you see the size of this bag!?!

Who in their right mind would buy a bag of glitter this big? That is a quart of iridescent disaster. I have NO recollection of purchasing it. Do you know the amount of destruction a toddler could wreck if she got her grimy mitts on this? Of course you do and the answer is epic.  An epic amount of destruction. They don’t call glitter the herpes of craft supplies for nothing. My only redemption is that the bag was never opened. I may have been crazy enough to buy it, but thankfully I came to my senses before I used it.  This little beauty is on its way to Goodwill. Consider it my gift to society.   -Ellen

The Toddler Weapons of Mass Destruction

To further redeem our sensible name, we have some crafty-craft to giveaway with no vacuuming required or necessary. Actually, no work on your part is required whatsoever to make the fabulous happen.

Intrigued?

Sara from Cormier Creative is a fabulous graphic designer and has helped countless women bring their blog (and brand) to the next level.

She recently gave Anna at My Life and Kids a total brand makeover (see her magic here) and today, she’s giving away a FREE Facebook cover design to one of you.

Cormier Creative Giveaway

Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter. (And be sure to visit Sara at Cormier Creative!) Giveaway ends on Sunday, June 16 at midnight.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now onto

 

June Finding the Funny!

Meet the Hosts Anna @ My Life and Kids Kelley @ Kelley’s Break Room Robyn @ Hollow Tree Ventures Kerry @ HouseTalkN Julie @ I Like Beer and Babies Keesha @ Mom’s New Stage Meredith @ The Mom of the Year Anna @ Random Handprints Ellen and Erin @ Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms Toulouse @ Toulouse and Tonic

The Rules

Link up an old or new funny post. Link up as many times as you want (we’re serious.) The party is open until Friday at midnight. The earlier you link up, the more clicks you’ll get. Click around and meet the other funny bloggers that are linking up. Follow the Finding the Funny Pinterest board. We’ll all be pinning our favorites throughout the month. We don’t ask you to link back to us or include a button on your blog, but we do ask you to send out a tweet or post about the party on your Facebook page. Be sure to use #findingthefunny.

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I Just Want to Pee Alone For Mother’s Day Giveaway

Okay ladies, it’s time to take back Mother’s Day and celebrate it in the way you desire. We may or may not have some teeny weeny problems with the workload and hoopla that surrounds this supposed day of honor. While we all love the handmade gifts and cherish them to pieces, we want to empower you to get your own gift, a gift that celebrates the truth of what it really means to be a mother. What is that gift you ask?

I Just Want To Pee Alone!

I Just Want To Pee Alone

This book is a compilation of essays on motherhood from some of our most favorite bloggers on the web. If only this had been around when we were new moms. Some of the things that happened during those early years just bordered on the ridiculous and we thought maybe we were “doing it wrong.” How great it would have been to have these stories not only for commiseration, but to lighten us up so that we could find the funny. This book is hilarious, tender, true and a reassurance that imperfection is normal.

We found ourselves wanting to leave each author a comment about what we thought about her piece. Blogging is about interaction. So since we do have access via the wonder that is social media (how cool is that?) we posed this question to several of the authors:

“How has it been having your words out there in book form without the immediate response and interaction you are use to having on your blogs?”

Anna Luther of My Life and Kids had this to say:

my life and kids

Like her on Facebook!

 

“Hmmmm….. For me it’s been really weird. Mine is towards the back, and I’m really used to people commenting right away on my blog posts – usually before I even get out of bed in the morning. So I immediately know if what I wrote was good or not. And my mom always calls me to talk about my post too, so I’m really used to that feedback too. I didn’t realize how important that feedback was to me (or those comments) until this book. I haven’t heard from a single person that has read my essay (not fishing for compliments here, I swear!). My mom hasn’t even read it. I’ve heard nothing. And it feels weird. And vulnerable.”

Our comment to Anna: You nailed the feeling of disconnect we have with our bodies after giving birth, the feeling that they are no longer our own . . . and you made us laugh with your imagery. Sad elephant indeed!

Kerry of House TalkN shared:

Like her on Facebook!

Like her on Facebook!

“It has been such a strange process! Instead of reading comments from the safety of the moffice, I get IRL (In Real Life) comments. I stand there like a deer in the headlights, praying that they liked it and hoping not to blurt out inappropriate comments about Susan’s 2 vagina’s. My mouth does not have a delete button, unfortunately.”

Our comment to Kerry: Why weren’t you there to tell our younger selves we were rocking it? We love ourselves now, but there was A LOT to love back then.

Kim of Let Me Start By Saying:

Like her on Facebook!

Like her on Facebook!

“When I put something out there on my blog (or Facebook, etc) I can immediately see people’s “Likes” and comments, whether they shared my post, and – if they did share it – what they said to the people they shared it with. There is immediate gratification: It Was Good or It Was Actually Not All That Good. Not only do I get the pleasure of not knowing whether people liked my essay, I get to feel the pressure of being the opening essay. So if mine sucked, would it hurt those in the back of the book? Would people skim my chapter in the book store and say “Meh. Not this time…”? When I am on my own, I’m on my own. This time, if what I wrote wasn’t good, it affected the others after me. Which makes me mumble anxious curses under my breath and reach for the wine.”

Our comment to Kim: No need to worry because you started the book off with a bang. You painted such a vividly hilarious picture of your time as a spa starfish, we felt like we were there with you every step of the way. Is that awkward?

Nicole of Ninja Mom:

Like her on Facebook!

Like her on Facebook!

“I’m still convinced mine is all wrong for the book. Not the right voice. So when I’ve had a positive comment or two trickle in, not at all like blog comments, I’m shocked, surprised, and more gratified then I would have imagined. But nothing compares to seeing friends I know outside the blogosphere buying the book and posting pictures of it to Facebook while I wait for them to let me know if they liked my piece or not. Most of my tangible, reach-out-and-touch-them friends don’t comment on my blog posts, so maybe silence is par for the course. Or maybe I crashed and burned. Maybe I don’t want to hear from them, after all.”

Our comment to Nicole: You did not crash and burn, my dear. You shone a  spotlight filtered with humor on the ridiculousness of the parenting pissing contest. This line has stuck with us in particular: “We can’t judged ourselves but procreation; it’s a measure of nothing more than the result of biology doing its thing.”

Rebecca of Frugalista Blog told us:

Like her on Facebook!

Like her on Facebook!

“I’m glad to know I’m not the only one used to getting immediate gratification.<== that sounds weird! It’s been a thrill watching it climb the charts and seeing other bloggers review it. But I haven’t heard any feedback about MY essay and it’s odd. I don’t know what to think. My husband laughed at some of the others and didn’t say a word about mine. So I just don’t ask. But seeing the reviews on Amazon, the comments from people about the book in general getting them to laugh out loud after a crappy day- that is all worth it. Regardless of personal feedback- it’s still been awesome and I would do it again.”

Our comment to Rebecca: You created the best, funniest analogy for middle aged sex we have ever had the pleasure of reading. Life is lived more in the quickie showers than the long bubble baths anyway.

Meredith of The Mom of the Year:

Follow her on Facebook!

Like her on Facebook!

“I am really grateful for the opportunity to tell my story even if no one else liked it, but it’s been hard not getting much feedback. I know I’m not a popular blogger so I shouldn’t expect much, but it’s very easy to get paranoid that my essay stinks and doesn’t fit at all. I saw one review yesterday that did mention mine and it was very kind, so I started feeling tearful with gratitude and wanted to reach out and squeeze the woman, but I have no idea who she is. That is so different than a blog comment which you can always reply to!”

 

Our comment to Meredith: Your essay masterfully captured what it is like to be a daughter losing her mother. You expressed the tenderness, humor, and solemnity that washes over death and loss in waves. We were left not only thinking your essay was a great addition to the book, but that we would love to have you on our emotional support team any day.

Robyn of Hollow Tree Ventures:

Follow her on Facebook!

Follow her on Facebook!

“It’s strange and a little nerve-wracking not to have immediate commentary on something I’ve written, like I’m used to on the blog. But on top of that, my blog posts seem so much more fleeting – whether one tanks or takes off, it quickly gets buried under the rest of the week’s posts. This essay is like a post that keeps randomly popping up to the top of my blog every day, though! Luckily the book itself has gotten SO many amazing reviews, I just breathe a sigh of relief that, whatever people may or may not think about my essay in particular, at the very least it didn’t completely ruin their overall reading experience. Usually, with my writing, that’s the best praise I can hope for.”

Our comment to Robyn: As usual, you were hilarious. Birth plans usually scare us, but your step by step guide to having babies had us proclaiming, “Right on, Sister!” (and we may or may not have peed our pants.)

Susan of Divine Secrets of a Domestic Diva:

Like her on Facebook!

Like her on Facebook!

“So far all the feedback I’ve received has been fun and positive, and it’s always hilarious to hear people bring up my essay….”Soooooooo. About your vagina(s)……”

Our comment to Susan: No one deserves to have a baby doctor who is a “baby.” The best thing she did that day was give us all a side-splitting story to laugh at  . . . and extreme gratitiude that we came out of our respective deliveries with the same number of vaginas we went in there with.

We also need to thank Susan for autographing our giveaway copy of I Just Want To Pee Alone! A copy that has NEVER seen the inside of either one of our bathrooms, we might (need) to add!

 Giveaway runs until Midnight Monday, April 22, 2013

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We are also excited that four other authors agreed to join in with us on this giveaway. So much access to so much writing talent!

We asked Momaical, Snarkfest, You’re My Favorite Today, and The Dose of Reality this question:

“What has been the funniest/weirdest “In Real Life” reaction to your book?”

momaical

Tracy said, “I have the hardest time telling people the name of the book because I was raised in a family that doesn’t discuss things that occur in a small room in the house that has a toilet and a sink. So, I blush every time I mention it. Which – is a tie in to my piece in the book about how I cannot teach my children anatomically correct terminology.”

 

Teri said, “So far, my daughter’s reaction to reading my submission has been my favorite. In my essay, I mention that my kid will eat food off the floor or a cheese stick that’s been sitting in her lunch bag for 2 weeks but I can’t get her to load the dishwasher without rubber gloves. Her response upon reading that part: I don’t eat food off the floor…………anymore.”

 

You're my favorite today.
Michelle said . . . well, she had so much to say on the matter that she shared it in a post: “Finding Out Your Mom Wrote About Sex.”

 

the dose of reality
Lisa and Ashley said, “We were having a “blog meeting” at Starbucks, and we saw a mom neither of us know in real life reading our book. In our excitement we went over to tell her “Hey, we are in that book!” We expected a great reaction and much fanfare. Instead, she was a little standoffish and obviously unamused that we had interrupted her “me time”. She left shortly thereafter and didn’t ask us to sign the book or anything. We guess we gave her too big a “Dose of Reality” all at once!”

 

So are you getting the drift that you need to get this book and NOW!?! Enter the contest or order a copy to be expressed shipped to you, but just get it. We’ll leave you with the list of “Kick Ass Bloggers” who fill the pages of this perfect Mother’s Day gift.

-Ellen and Erin

People I Want to Punch in the Throat; Insane in the Mom Brain; The Divine Secrets of a Domestic Diva; Baby Sideburns; Rants From Mommyland; You Know it Happens at Your House Too; The Underachiever’s Guide to Being a Domestic Goddess; My Life and Kids; Bad Parenting Moments; Let Me Start By Saying; Frugalista Blog; Suburban Snapshots; Ninja Mom; Four Plus an Angel; Honest Mom; Binkies and Briefcases; Naps Happen; Kelley’s Break Room; Toulouse & Tonic; HouseTalkN; Hollow Tree Ventures; The Fordeville Diaries; Snarkfest; Mom’s New Stage; Nurse Mommy Laughs; The Dose of Reality; The Mom of the Year; Life on Peanut Layne; Momaical; Cloudy, With a Chance of Wine; Confessions of a Cornfed Girl; I Love Them Most When They’re Sleeping; Random Handprints; RachRiot; You’re My Favorite Today; Funny is Family; My Real Life

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Mattel Easter Toy Basket Giveaway!

Save the Bunny!

Mattel has come up with the most brilliant giveaway for Easter! They want us to “Save the Bunny”. How? Instead of loading those Easter baskets full of chocolate and candies, Mattel is promoting “toys instead of chocolate”, encouraging parents to fill those baskets with surprises that inspire hours of creative, healthy, and sugar-free play.

This adorable video heartily endorsed by our kids explains it ALL!!!

 It’s like this campaign is speaking to Ellen. Behold the drawer in her daughter’s room where chocolate bunnies go to grow old. That is LAST year’s bunny, folks!

Where candy goes to rot. She doesn't so much like to EAT the candy as to HAVE the candy.

Jellybean doesn’t so much like to EAT the candy as to HAVE the candy.

And what about Erin? She has FIVE kids. If those basket were filled to the brim with chocolate, her dentist might be able to put in that custom fieldstone fire pit. It’s no wonder that we are both fans of filling those baskets with toys.

Need some inspiration?

Look at these adorable basket ideas from Mattel.

Need more inspiration? How about FREE toys!

Enter below to win a Mattel Easter Basket filled to the brim with Hot Wheels, Barbie, Thomas & Friends, Fisher Price, Monster High and more!

PLUS there are 10 Second Place prizes of either a Hot Wheels multi-pack or Barbie Madison doll. How cool is that? What are you waiting for?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Winners will be picked March 29th and your prize will be delivered directly from Mattel.

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The First Ever Sisterhood Photo Caption Contest

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! It’s been a good week here at The Sisterhood. Our Britely flipbook won us $1000! Check it out, it’ll change your life.

It feels good to win so we thought we would share the magic. So let’s see; $1000 minus the taxes, minus the reimbursement of our pockets for blog expenses, minus the cost of a venti skim latte and a large diet coke . . . leaves us $25 to spend on a Starbucks Gift Card for you!

Can we get a holla for caffeine!

So now that we got you all excited, here’s all you have to do. Caption our photo! Erin’s post How Bloggers’ Kids Get Their Revenge was a sleeper hit, but as some people pointed out, it was screaming for a caption.

The Rules

They are made by us and our decisions are final! (Have to admit, feeling a little drunk with power. We should have done this sooner.)

  • Leave your entry in the comment section, but make it PG or cleaner. We reserve the right to delete any entries that we deem inappropriate.
  • Only captions entered into the comment section of this blog will be considered. If you write them on our Facebook page, on Twitter, or tell us in person, they will NOT count as entries. And we will be annoyed.
  • You can enter more than once. Why not? We understand the wish to edit for brilliance after you hit publish.
  • It would be super awesome if you subscribed to our blog. (Right there in the upper right where the space to enter your email is located. Obviously.)
  • It would be super duper awesome if you liked us on Facebook. (Surely you can’t miss that  in the sidebar.)
  • All judging will be done by Ellen and Erin with liberal input from our spouses. All decisions are final. All entries become property of Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms to be reproduced and shared on the interwebz at our whim.
  • We are not responsible for a damaged delivery or lack of delivery of your prize. (Let’s all relax. It’s a $25 gift card.)

Contest will run from RIGHT NOW until midnight EST on Tuesday, October 2, 2012. We will announce the winner on Wednesday, October 3, 2012.

Now make us laugh and pray that we can actually come out of this still talking to each other.

 

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