The Spoils: Part One

I have become a giveaway addict.

For those of you not in the game, the blog game that is, you may not be aware that there is an abundance of awesome giveaways out there that you just need to sign up for. Usually, you need to do nothing more than comment on a post like you do here on my posts (cough-yeahright-cough). And you don’t even HAVE to have a blog! Just an email address. And I have been staying up late nights, attempting to support my family, keeping them supplied with cute t-shirts and reading material.

But I hesitate to tell you this little-known secret, because you might just enter a giveaway that I am entering and win my beloved, oh-so-coveted prizes!!

On the other hand, I know that small companies actually DO these giveaways so that folks will check out their websites, and even do a little review of the product on their blog if they win. And as I said, I have been a giveaway-entering-fiend.

And, yes my friends, I have been WINNING!!!

So without further ado… I give you my spoils:

You might recall that I recently participated in the Fall Ya’ll Bloggy Giveaways. I entered about 275 giveaways. I won TWO of them! Yeehaw!!

Firstly, from the blog Memarie Lane, I won my choice of an awesome array of funky boy’s shirts from a company called Trendy Tadpole. Its so hard to find good boy’s clothes that don’t have firetrucks and soccer balls on them, and Trendy Tadpole comes through. We picked a black longsleeve shirt with a goofy little skull and crossbones on it for Noah, so that the twins can grow into it eventually. Thanks, Marie!

Secondly, from a blog called Our Family Village, I won a lovely bath set from Flutterby Gifts! I am waiting to receive it but Summer, who held the giveaway, describes the set as “a homemade treat for any tired mama looking to relax a little. There is a bottle of chocolate scented powdered bath milk, perfect for using during long soaks in the bathtub. A bar of solid lotion, also chocolate scented. Rub it on after the bath and feel your skin get softer. And a fabulous bar of Mocha scented soap to wash with.” Mmmm… can you say yummy in the tubby??

So… those were my wins from the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival. But I would be remiss if I did not write a little something about the generosity of the other giveaway sponsors that I have won something from…

First off, I got a big box of goodies from the Hanes company from a giveaway sponsored by a great review blog called Mamaspeaks.com. Go check her out… lots of good info on fun new products for parents. Hanes sent us a couple awesome shirts for Noah, along with some things for the babies, and some sweats for them all to grow into. The t-shirts for Noah are funky and fun with a funky octopus on one and a scorpion design on the other.

Over at Katrina Stonoff’s site, Stone Soup, she writes really helpful reviews of books, and is a ridiculously prolific reader (and is a novelist as well!). With all those finished books on the shelf, she likes to occasionally pass them on. I won a giveaway of any book still on her shelf, and chose the wildly popular book Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt. Normally, I don’t go for non-fiction but this one was just so intriguing and I knew that Michael would enjoy it as well. Go check out this part of Katrina’s site to read insightful reviews of some great books. You might just find your next good novel.

Another book I was excited to win was Deceptively Delicious written by Jessica Seinfield (wife of Jerry). This giveaway was offered up by a blog called An Island Review which does lots of useful product reviews and loads of good giveaways, and links to other giveaways. Check it out. According to An Island Review, “the whole premise of this book is to get kids to eat healthily, by “hiding” pureed vegetables and fruits in everyday foods that your kids eat. When you think about it, the concept is quite simple. I just wonder why I never thought about it. She even puts spinach and carrots in her brownies! Now that's just darn right sneaky!” As you may well know, I have son who eats something like seven different things, so I am going to be studying this like a textbook!

Lastly today, I want to tell you about Divvies.com which is a site that sells yummy goodies to people with nasty food allergies. Their sweets are peanut free, tree nut free, egg free & dairy free.

Well, Teensy Green, a website that shares a wealth of information about "green" toys, books, arts and crafts, as well as natural clothing, bath and body products, and how to really have fun with your kids, hosted a Divvies Cupcake Giveaway!

We won a dozen Halloween cupcakes from them which come gently packaged, with frosting and sprinkles on the side. We our very-allergic niece and nephew over for trick or treat night. Every year, they get their pumpkin buckets confiscated before they eat anything, in order to remove the goodies that can cause them problems. So we were thrilled to be able to throw a post-trick-or-treat decorate-your-own-cupcake party back at our house. They were really moist and tasty. Highly recommended.

Anyway, I actually won some other wonderful goodies, but I will save them for another time so I can take pictures that will make you all jealous of my new bling!!

I am off to play with my booty!

Umm… as in, treasure… not…

Oh never mind!!