Kmart's BIG Layaway Giveaway!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Kmart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

It is not too early to start shopping for your holiday gifts this year! If you're hesitant about starting because you don't want any gift hunters figuring out what they are getting, you should check out Kmart's free layaway.
Right now Kmart is even doing something special-  It's time for Kmart's Big Layaway Giveaway! Now through November 17, 2012 you can win some great prizes!  Each week there will be one winner per store, yes EVERY week until November 17th! All you have to do is put your items on layaway and you have a chance to have your balance paid off! What a great prize!

If you're not familiar with Kmart's layaway program, let me tell you some of the great things about it!  It covers ALL merchandise in the store, it's available year round, there is NO minimum item or transaction amount, it's available nationwide and online, you can shop in one state and pick up your items in another one, it has several contract options, you can shop online and pick up in the store, and there are no service fees! There are a lot more perks with Kmart than with other big name retailers.
I would love to win big with Kmart! With Cole's first Christmas coming up and with him getting bigger and needing a new carset in the somewhat near future, I could find a lot of things to put on my layaway list! What would you put on layaway?

Fall Gardening

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scotts Miracle-Gro for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Yes, you read that right... Fall gardening. Fall and gardening aren't really two words that commonly go together. However it is easy to Find beauty in the Fall and make a lovely garden with Miracle-Gro. Fall is a great time to give roots time to grow and store nutrients and gives the plants more time to grow an established root system.


If I were to start fall gardening, I think I'd go for an edible garden. Although, pretty fall colors would come in a close second. I would have to have tomatoes.  Tomatoes fresh from your own garden are THE best! Then, because it's fall, I'd want to make homemade tomato soup! I love this recipe on http://allrecipes.com for garden fresh tomato soup, it serves 6.

Ingredients

• 4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
• 1 slice onion
• 4 whole cloves
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons white sugar, or to taste

Directions

1. In a stockpot, over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, onion, cloves and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and gently boil for about 20 minutes to blend all of the flavors. Remove from heat and run the mixture through a food mill into a large bowl, or pan. Discard any stuff left over in the food mill.
2. In the now empty stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux, cooking until the roux is a medium brown. Gradually whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture, so that no lumps form, then stir in the rest. Season with sugar and salt, and adjust to taste. 

Be sure to like the Miracle-Gro Facebook page where you can chat with other gardener, share stories, get tips, and just have fun! 

Upcoming Events in OK, CA & UT

Here is the Chesapeake Energy Arena (formerly the Oklahoma City Arena) information and upcoming schedule! We also have the information and schedule for the Oracle Arena located in California and the information and upcoming schedule for the EnergySolutions Arena (formerly The Delta Center) in Utah.  There are a lot of great shows and events coming up, so check them out if you're in the area.

***I recieved compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% mine. For my full disclosure policy, click here.***

Paying it Forward is Gutzy!

Recently I was given the opportunity to do some Pay it Forward for the new school year by Madame Deals Media and Gutzy Gear.  I was given $25 to go back to school shopping! How fun.  I LOVED back to school shopping growing up, and even though I graduated college several years ago, and my baby is many years away from going to school, I still get giddy when I see the back to school ads and aisles of new school supplies at the store.  A fun bonus to the backpack and supplies is that Gutzy Gear sent me some strap covers and Gutzies too! After we got everything together, we then needed to donate the items to a child in need. 

My school supplies!

I did all of my shopping at Target and Wal-Mart.  They seemed to have the best deals in my area, and I wasn't going to waste a ton of gas (and drag an infant around) just grab a few super deals here and there around town. Now I choose to donate my items to a fabulous co-worker who has two elementary school aged sons who could definitely use some school supplies, so that is why there is a lot of duplicated items in my picture. 
I was able to get 2 packs of lined paper, 2 spiral notebooks, a few folders, 2 pencil cases, 3 packs of different study flash cards, 4 bottles of glue, a ruler, 6 pink erasers, 3 pairs of scissors, a pack of color pencils, a pack of #2 pencils, 8 glue sticks, 3 highlighters, a protractor, box of crayons and a pack of colored pens. Add that to the packback, strapcovers and Gutzies and we're good to go! 

Backpack with Gutzies and strap covers!

This pay it forward event was sponsored by Gutzy Gear and powered by Madame Deals Media.  I was given $25 to buy a backpack and school supplies. 

Gerber Baby Cole!

We keep hearing what a cute baby Cole is.  How we need to enter him into contests, and that he should be a baby model.  Well now you have your chance to prove to us how much of it was true, and how much was just talk! Just kidding, we know we have a cute baby! We have entered Cole into the 2012 Gerber Generation Photo Contest! 

Voting starts September 4th at 12:01am PT and ends September 24th at 11:59pm PT During the voting time frame, you can log into your Facebook account (yes, you do need to have an account to vote), then you need to "Like" The Gerber Generation Photo Search 2012 page so you can be a Fan.  Then you need to allow the application when prompted.  It's very quick and very easy! 

To vote for Cole, please follow this link, or enter "394777" into the entry search.  Each Facebook account can vote once per day during the 20 day voting period.  Please vote for Cole as often as you can (daily would be awesome!), and encourage your friends and family to vote as well! While you're over there, you can vote for Cole's cousin MacKenzie too!  You can share Cole's entry on Twitter to all your followers as well. Thank you so much!  

My sweet pea! 

My niece!