Everybody is a Winner

Here's the list of those entered into my giveaway.

1) John   (12 posts in the forum)
2) Cornyman   (0 posts in the forum)

3) Petula   (0 posts in the forum)

4) Sandy   (2 posts in the forum)

5) Robin   (4 posts in the forum)

6) Russ   (1 posts in the forum)

7) Zizzy   (9 posts in the forum)


Well - There are 7 prizes and 7 entrants. There were people who commented, but didn't join the forum. There were people who joined the forum, but didn't comment. The people listed above are the ones who qualified. So what we're going to do is this...

1) I'm going to Random Generate the list to see who gets first choice of the prizes.

2) We'll go in order down that list and let the winner choose which prize they want. To do this, leave me a comment to tell me you first three choices --- IN ORDER OF YOUR PREFERENCES. If you are selecting EC credits, be sure to give us a link to your EC profile. If you are selecting something that will need to be mailed - please comment here with your prize choices and then email me at aandsparenting@gmail.com with the appropriate information. Please DO NOT leave your mailing address in the comments section. For advertisements, please email me the 125 card and the link so I can set up your ad. Also tell us which blog you want your ad to be placed on.

The prizes are:

1) 125 X 125 advertising on my sidebar - the ad will be placed directly above the Entrecard Widget.
2) 500 Entrecard Credits
3) 300 Entrecard Credits
4) 100 Entrecard Credits
5) Scrapbook Supplies Goody Bag (my camera is currently without battery power - trust me that the goody bag will be suitably impressive ... I'll try to get a picture this weekend and get it posted)
6) Set of 20 Hand Made Greeting Cards (again - picture to follow...)
7) 125 X 125 advertising at Spicybugz website - placement to be determined later. (I haven't actually asked her about this, so while I can offer the ad - I can't guarantee where she will put it... bwa ha ha...)
8) Sponsored by Eli at Business Sphere: 1,500 EC to ONE lucky winner **Thank you, Eli.**

**I never did manage to get pictures of those cards and scrapbook goodies. I am so sorry. I hope that whomever wins that will trust that their prize package will be well worth winning. **











 
Special Prizes from Sponsors. 




9) Sponsored by Cornyman: 150 EC Credits for EACH participant who a) REGISTERS in the forum, b) COMMENTS below, AND c) is ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING in the forum during the contest time. **Thank you, Cornyman, for such a generous sponsorship.**

10) Sponsored by Spicybugz: 5,000 EC Credits will be given to the person who is most active in the forums as of the end of this contest.

JOHN WINS FOR BEING THE MOST ACTIVE !!!


NOW FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT PART...

My random method of prize determination is as follows: I took out 7 index cards and wrote the numbers 1 through 7 on them (one number per card). I folded these cards into tiny bits and added them to a bowl. I then sat down on the floor with my two adorable daughters and let them pick our winners. (Actually, Dad picked the first winner so that each girl would end up with the exact same amount of cards when we were finished. Yes, it matters... Just ask them. They'll tell you. )

So here are the awaited results.

First prize winner is Number 3. (That would be Petula.)
Second prize winner is Number 2. (Cornyman)
Third prize winner is Number 7. (Zizzy)
Fourth prize winner is Number 5. (Robin)
Fifth prize winner is Number 1. (John)
Sixth prize winner is Number 4. (Sandy)
Seventh prize winner is Number 6. (Russ)

All that's left to do is give me your top 3 preferences for prizes. We'll go in order of the top winner down to the bottom. Petula - you get first choice...

How healthy is that healthy snack...

Does reduced fat mean reduced sugar?

You might wonder why we're stacking up the sugar in reduced fat foods. After all, they're not making any claims about reducing sugar. Just because a cookie is touted as low fat doesn't mean it has less sugar than its regular counterpart and a reduction of fat does not necessarily mean a major reduction in calories.

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The Reduced Fat Oreos won't help you much if you're counting calories - they have almost as many calories as the regular ones and the sugar content is the same. The Snack Cakes do have fewer calories, but a comparable amount of sugar.


Reduced Fat Oreos
3 cookies (34g)
Sugars, total: 14g
Calories, total: 150
Calories from sugar: 56

Oreo Snack Cakes
1 package (24g)
Sugars, total: 9g
Calories, total: 100
Calories from sugar: 36

Oreos
3 cookies (34g)
Sugars, total: 14g
Calories, total: 160
Calories from sugar: 56


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The portion size is a little disappointing here. This is a very small handful, but they did manage to pack in the sugar.



Oreo Candy Bites
1 package (22g)
Sugars, total: 12g
Calories, total: 100
Calories from sugar: 48



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All those little cookie wafers will last longer but in the end, they have just as much sugar and about as many calories as two regular (and much better tasting) Chips Ahoy cookies.
 

Chips Ahoy (regular)
2 cookies (20g)
Sugars, total: 7g
Calories, total: 98
Calories from sugar: 28

Chips Ahoy Thin Crisps
1 package (23g)
Sugars, total: 7g
Calories, total: 100
Calories from sugar: 28


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These cute little bite-size cupcakes are about equivalent to a half of a regular cupcake in terms of sugar and calories.



Hostess Cupcake
100 Calorie Pack (37g)
Sugars, total: 10g
Calories, total: 100
Calories from sugar: 40

Hostess Cupcake
1 Regular (49.5g)
Sugars, total: 22g
Calories, total: 175
Calories from sugar: 88


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These Snackwells may seem like a good idea, but that's a pretty average amount of sugar for two cookies, and that's the same amount of calories you'd get in two regular Oreos.


Snackwell Creme Sandwiches
2 cookies (25g)
Sugars, total: 9g
Calories, total: 110
Calories from sugar: 36

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These stats seem less impressive when you realize that this is only one not very substantial cookie. With such a small cookie, how many will you need to eat to feel satisfied?


Snackwell Devil's Food Cookies
1 cookie (16g)
Sugars, total: 7g
Calories, total: 50
Calories from sugar: 28

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When you compare these two puddings, you will find that the difference in sugar is negligible. This is not really a surprise since they didn't make any claims about less sugar. In this case, however, the fat reduction actually did make a significant impact on the calorie count.


Chocolate Pudding
Regular Pudding (99g)
Sugars, total: 16g
Calories, total: 130
Calories from sugar: 64

Low Fat Pudding (99g)
Sugars, total: 15g
Calories, total: 80
Calories from sugar: 60


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Here is another case where the low fat version has almost as many calories as the original, and the same amount of sugar.  You know the low fat is going to be dry and taste weird. Unless you're really concerned about fat, you might as well get the regular ones.


Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
Chocolate Chip (regular) (24g)
Sugars, total: 7g
Calories, total: 100
Calories from sugar: 28

Low Fat Chocolate Chunk (24g)
Sugars, total: 7g
Calories, total: 90
Calories from sugar: 28






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We really need to read the labels and decide what it is that we want to put in our bodies. Food companies spend a lot of time and money to find legal ways to persuade us to purchase their products. It's important to take the time to know what you are buying.

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Contributed by: The Mind of a Mom

Contest News

I'll be setting up for the choosing of winners later this evening.

I'll be announcing winners tomorrow.

Just wanted to let everybody know. 

Lessons Learned

This weekend has been incredibly eventful. I only have a brief moment tonight, but I want to share with you what I have learned over the past couple of days.

1) Home made costumes are far better than store bought costumes. It doesn't matter how uncreative one might be your young child will enjoy that hand made costume so much and won't even notice all the imperfections.

2) Turkey basters make awesome unicorn horns. You just pop the bulb off of the end and add glitter.

3) When using super glue, it is highly advisable to use latex gloves. This is especially true when you are gluing a unicorn horn to a headband that has fake hair attached to it.

4) You will need three times the amount of super glue that you originally anticipated because most of the first two tubes will end up on your hands instead of on the desired articles.

5) If your child is going to be a fairy for Halloween, provide that child with a bucket full of glitter so she can spread fairy dust over all her candy givers. (No, I did not do this. I thought about it after we were finished and thought how wonderfully cute that would have been.)

6) It's easier than you might imagine to ignore the buckets of candy when you're trying to lose weight and know that you shouldn't delve into the chocolate.

Happy Halloween Graphics
                   

Junction of Function

**This is not a paid post. This is a product review. I met the creator of this product at the home school convention I attended in July and asked her to allow me to use this product and write a review.**

I was wandering the aisles of the vendor room at the Southeast Home School Expo checking out the various materials that were being offered for display. I had passed up booth after endless booth of materials that were irrelevant to my own needs when I came across the Junction of Function tables. I was immediately drawn into the display area to play with the products that were available to be touched and held. I was so excited to see the Writing Made Simple product that I nearly jumped for joy as I phoned my husband to beg him for permission to buy the set for our girls.

Kira had been learning about her letters, but was not able to write those letters with any level of proficiency. Try though I might, I could not get her to understand the concept of lifting her pencil from the paper in order to make a new movement to create the entire letter. She was determined to write her letters with one stroke of the pencil. (We all know this does not work...) Her failure was causing her to become frustrated with the entire process and whatever progress we made was quickly washed away by that frustration.

Standing in the midst of hundreds of people and hundreds of possible purchases, I held in my hand the solution to my problem. This manipulative would allow me to explain to Kira how to make the appropriate movements in order to create her letters on paper. I knew this would be exactly what she needed. Lucky for us, Dad said it was just fine with him for me to buy the set.

I spoke with Kelly, one of the creators of this system, to learn more about what it was that I was bringing home with me. I learned that each character that was used to create the magnetic letters was cleverly named to make it easy for kids to remember who was who. I also learned that Kelly and the co-creator of the system worked together to create a cast of characters that would be fun for kids to get to know.

When looking at the magnets that are used to show kids how to form their letters, each character is performing a specific action in order to create the correct movement for writing the given letter. The action is created from the toes to the head of each character. For example, to create the backbone of the letter "K" Harry Head dives to the ground in one very long motion. (To write the letter "K" we begin at the top of the backbone and go to the bottom. Following the motions of Harry Head diving to the ground, the child can learn to write this part of the letter "K" in one long motion.)

There is a transparent overlay that is used as a guide to show which character in which pose should be used for the letter. By explaining the action of the character, the child can follow that action with her pencil in order to create the letter.

It all sounded pretty good, but would it work?

The theory was sound. The magnets looked really cool. I loved the characters.

What would Kira think?

Well, as luck would have it, my life got a bit crazy and my promise to use the system for the month of August and write about the system in September failed to materialize. I only had a small opportunity to use the magnets with Kira during August and felt that I needed more time before I could accurately review the product. Add to that my method of home schooling (unschooling), I needed to wait for a time when Kira was actively interested in sitting down to learn how to write her letters.

Such a time did present itself early in August. Kira desperately wanted to know how to write her name. She had mastered writing the little 'i', the little 'r', and the little 'a'. Unfortunately she was struggling with the 'k' that begins her name. She just couldn't figure it out on her own. I was so excited that I finally had a good opportunity to sit down with her and show her this new goody that I found.

I pulled out the transparency for the letter 'K'.

I pulled out the appropriate magnets that corresponded with said transparency.

I sat down with Kira and a stack of papers ready to tackle the task of learning how to draw the letter 'K'.

I was in it for the long haul.

We - Would - Master - This - No- Matter - How - Long - It - Took!

It took less than a full minute. (Sigh...and I was so prepared to stick it out, too.)

I kid you not!

Kira took one look at the adorable little kids who were creating her coveted letter 'K' and with one short explanation of the motions that the kids were making she was drawing away. I left for a brief trip to the store and returned to a stack of pages with "Kira" written on them. Yes, her letters were still choppy and still in serious need of practice, but they were also very clear and very readable. Kira was beyond ecstatic at this new ability. She was so ecstatic that she had ZERO interest in learning to write any other letter. She spent days and days writing her own name on every scrap of paper she could find. (I'm sure the bill processors at AT&T found that to be quite odd when they received our monthly payment with the name "Kira" written all over the payment stub in crayon...)

I waited and waited and waited... and suggested and suggested and suggested... for another opportunity to learn more letters. Kira just wasn't interested. She was completely satisfied with having learned how to write that coveted letter 'K'.

So the review was delayed... until a time would come when Kira decided she wanted to learn more. Little did I know that she would begin practicing on her own. She had made a crucial connection in that one lesson. She now understood that she could create her letters by lifting her pencil and using more than one motion.

SHE GOT IT!

We have pulled out our Writing Made Simple set a few times since that first lesson. I still love those little characters and love how easy it is to show Kira how to create the letter she has chosen to study. If it weren't for mischievous Marisa, I could leave Kira to play with the magnets and transparencies completely unsupervised. It is a very sturdy set. Marisa would surely abscond with the magnetic characters to cast some exotic play on the refrigerator if I did not fully supervise their usage.

This item is by far one of the best tools I've been lucky enough to possess. If you have a child that is struggling to write his letters, there is no doubt that this one product will help your child visualize the necessary motions and make that crucial connection to allow him to succeed in writing.

Daily Amusement

 Found this HERE and wanted to share.

Top Ten Signs That You Might Be A Frustrated Mom

 

1. Your children know how to read HTML code but can't operate a vacuum cleaner.

2. Your children tell you that you said "yes" and you don't even remember the question.

3. You go to the grocery store and find yourself having a good time.
4. Your husband asks how your day went and you rate it on a scale of 1-10 repeats of "stop that!" or "no!".
5. You can't remember the last time you didn't have to share your drink.
6. You mistakenly tell the kids it's "sanity" time when you meant to say "bed" time.
7. The laundry seems to have taken on an evil nature and you begin to feel that it's out to get you.
8. You dread hearing the phone ring because it's a sure sign there's about to be trouble amongst the children.
9. It's finally your turn on the computer and "Touched by an Angel" is just coming on.
10.You go to sleep with "I'm bored" or "I'm hungry" still ringing in your ears.