Fiber One Chocolate Mocha Chewy Bars

I have to admit, I am not one to try new foods especially when they are "good for me" so when I received this great Spa Break Basket from Fiber One it took me a few days to try them just because the word "fiber" is in the title. I know call me crazy but don't tell my kids because I make them try everything!

I was PLEASANTLY surprised when I tried the Chocolate Mocha Chewy Bars! They actually didn't taste like "fiber" they tasted like chocolate! These bars are packed with yummy bits of chocolate and much to my delight they didn't taste too much like coffee as I am not a coffee drinker. Fiber One Bars provide 35% of the recommended daily fiber intake and are a great source of calcium as well. I could really use some calcium in my diet because I have a hard time drinking milk. My kids really liked these too, they thought it was cool that they were tasting coffee! I just may have to hide them from the kids for myself though!

So I know that fiber helps keep your digestive system on track but what I didn't know was:

• Fiber can help you satisfy your appetite and manage your weight.
  Research suggests that people who have high fiber intakes tend to have healthier body weights
• 9 out of 10 Americans aren’t getting the recommended amount of fiber (I am sadly one of the 9, but not anymore thanks to Fiber One!) You can see if you are getting enough fiber by using this Fiber-O-Meter

So do I have you convinced to try Fiber One Chocolate Mocha Chewy Bars yet? How about a coupon for $1.35 off a pack to give them a try! Click here for you coupon.

Still not convinced? How about if I give them to you for FREE! I have 3 great Fiber One Spa Break gift baskets to give to my fabulous readers!

The baskets include the following items:

• Coupon to receive a FREE box of Fiber One Chewy Bars
• A bath pillow
• Chocolate scented lotion, soap and bath salts
• Coffee scented candle

Here is what you need to do to enter: Remember I have 3 to give away!

Main Entry~you must complete both parts to be eligible:
1. Leave a comment telling me why you could use a spa break.
2. Follow my blog via reader (panda upper right sidebar)

Bonus Entries~ Leave SEPARATE comments for each completed item.
1. Follow me on Twitter here ~ leave comment
2. Share this post by using the share bar at the bottom of this post ~ leave a comment telling me where you shared it
3. Tweet about this giveawayby copying and pasting this tweet "Win a Chocolate Spa Basket from Fiber One and @craftymamaof4 http://tinyurl.com/b3vglw" (you can do this one time each day) ~leave a comment
4. Fav my site on MomFaves by clicking the button on the upper left sidebar ~ leave comment
5. Grab my button and put on your blog (I will go and grab yours too and put it in my blogroll) ~ leave comment with link to your blog
6. Post a link to this giveaway on your blog ~ leave a comment with a link to your post.

PLEASE READ THIS!

US entries only please. Please make sure to leave a valid email address or your Twitter ID in at least one of your comments. I will not hunt you down if you win. If you do not follow the entry requirements as stated above, your entry will be invalid, so please make sure you read the directions carefully :) This contest will end at 11:59 pm EST, Friday, March 20th . The winner will be chosen by random.org and will be notified via email or Twitter DM. The winner will also be posted on this blog. The winner has 48 hrs from the time of the posting to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen.

Good Luck :)

My Side of the Sassy Mama Story

Wow its been a crazy 24 hours and I have had some time to soak it all in and things have gotten way out of hand and I feel I need to tell my side of the story, so here goes. I have so much going through my mind right now so I apologize if I begin to ramble or jump around during this post.

About 2 weeks ago I was at a #gno twitter party and we were talking about PR and sponsorships and how to develop relationships. As a new blogger this is a topic of much interest to me so during the end of the party when someone named @sassymamas came into the party saying if you were interested in Blogher sponsorships to dm her, so did. I was told to join the www.sassy-mamas.com community and send her an email about what I wanted and my blog stats, so I did. A few days later on the site I was given the title of "Sassy 16" and was asked to begin promoting the site, get members, and start groups on the site, so I did. A few days later I was given a "sponsorship" to blogher by sassymamas. I would like to clarify that this "sponsorship" was $100, a very small amount of money in relation to the overall cost of the trip. I am not greedy, I am happy for any amount of help, but the way @sassymamas is presenting this fact on twitter, she is making it sound as if she has given 5 full sponsorships and she has not. The more I thought about it I felt it was unfair the amount of work that I was being asked to do for her site in return for a small amount of money.

Anyway, I invited my friends, started my groups and was actively promoting Sassy-Mamas, then some of my friends and some others who are much more educated in social media than myself started to ask questions about the site, questions I didn't have the answers too so asked Sassymamas myself. I told her people had questions and I myself had questions and before I could continue to promote her site I would like my questions answered. I asked who she was? She knew who we all were we knew nothing about her. I asked her where the funding for her sponsorships and site were coming from. I also asked her what her goal for the site was. The answers I received were, if I didn't know what the site was about I shouldn't be there and for personal reasons she was keeping her identity a secret. Think of it like this, If your tween came to you and said they just accepted money from someone whom they know nothing about and was "working" for them wouldn't you freak out? So I decided to follow my inner mom voice and try to find out more about sassymama since she was not sharing.

I found that the site and the email address where recently created and came out of nowhere very quickly, I found that the address I was given was at a shopping center and I found that the email address that sent me my "sponsorship" was a completely different person all together. So I decided to approach Sassymama again with the information I found, I asked her to come clean and explain what was going on. I woke up this morning with an email from Sassymama telling me it was sad that I had nothing better to do than investigate her and I was no longer welcome at Sassymamas and please return my "sponsorship" I was also banned from the site. I go back again to the point, if you are going to do business with someone don't you have the right to ask questions such as these. Okay so you have an office in a mall to protect your privacy, then say that, to get defensive and not answer reasonable questions. If you are just a mom trying to help other moms, why not just say that. Isn't social media about transparency and building relationships? How can you build a relationship with someone you know nothing about?

Before I was asked to leave I had decided I was going to lay low at Sassymamas until I felt comfortable, I contacted a few of my friends who had joined to let them know how I was feeling, what I knew, and what responses I was getting and asked them to make up their own mind about the whole thing and just to proceed with caution. I was in no way trying to ruin anyone's reputation or character, I was only looking out for myself and my friends. I did not send out a broadcast email to all members of the site, I only spoke with a few women whom I trust and consider friends.

I see as I am writing this that there are posts saying the "real Sassymama is revealed" I cannot comment on this information because you must be a member to read it and I am not allowed on the site.

I apologize if this has hurt anyone, that was not my intention, I was just asking questions I felt I had a right to ask. When I didn't get answers I stepped back, that's it. I felt I was looking out for myself and my friends. If I was wrong then I was missing out on a great opportunity and that was my problem no one else's. I did not tweet any malicious tweets, I did not publicly tweet that people should not join Sassymamas, I did not tweet anything negative about Sassymamas or start any other sites about the issue.

I would like to put this behind me and move forward and do not plan on talking about it publicly anywhere else. I wish everyone involved with Sassymamas the best of luck in the future.

I am not sorry that I decided to follow my instincts and look out for myself and my friends.

Feel free to leave your comments.

Wonderwash WOW!

Introducing the Wonderwash from Laundry Alternatives - the space saving, time saving, energy saving Green Clean solution for your laundry needs! As seen on The Rachael Ray Show, through a patented pressure system, the Wonderwash thoroughly cleans a five pound load in just minutes using less water and detergent than even hand washing!

What can you wash with the Wonderwash? How about a week’s worth of dress shirts, 10 t-shirts, 30 pairs of socks, bibs, cloth diapers, burp clothes….the list goes on and on.

How does the Wonderwash work? When you put warm or hot water into the drum, fit the lid in place and seal the machine,the air inside the drum will absorb the heat of the water and expand (i.e., just like a hot air balloon). When the air expands it creates pressure inside the drum. The pressure forces the detergent (which is diluted into the water) into & through the fabric (which is porous) about 100 times faster than you could by hand or machine.

Tell Us How It Could Work for You – And Win a Wonderwash PLUS a Mini Countertop Spin Dryer, which quietly spins the water out of your clothes in just minutes.

To participate follow these easy steps!

1. Blog on your site about what YOU would use the Wonderwash and Mini Countertop Spin Dryer to clean.

2. Post a photo or a video of your mess and be sure to link back to Laundry Alternatives at http://www.laundry-alternative.com/.
3. Fill out this secure participation form here to be entered to win!

Then join us on Twitter Friday, March 13th from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. (EST) to tweet with Green Cleaning experts and find out who won the grand prize! Five attendees will also win The TrueGreen Laundry Washing Ball, which cleans your clothes without bleach or detergents in cold water. It does not contain harmful synthetic detergents, perfumes, dyes, or oils!

RSVP for the Twitter Party at Resourceful Mommy here.

Good luck!

Pledge to End Hunger

I have signed the Pledge to End Hunger will you?

The following is taken directly from Tyson Foods website:

"For the next couple of weeks, we'll be involved in a collaboration with a number of great partners, including our longtime friends Share Our Strength. Designed to increase engagement in hunger relief, the Pledge to End Hunger will be highlighted in an online effort peaking at Austin's South by Soutwest festival, by social media superstars Beth Kanter and Chris Brogan.

You can find out more about the Pledge to End Hunger here. For every person who signs the pledge, Tyson will donate 35 pounds of food to the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas. If we get 1000, signatures (a truckload of food), we'll continue donating, up to two truckloads of food to the states with the most signatures.

At Tyson Foods, we’ve always donated food to hunger relief. But only in the past nine years, have we taken a strategic approach to doing it.

Some critical things we have learned: We can leverage what we’re doing in making donations beyond the value of the food delivered. We can use donation events to shine a spotlight on the need in our country. We can engage new stakeholders. We can create new awareness of the groups and people on the front lines of the fight against hunger. And if by doing so, we bring a return on investment to our shareholders, we can keep the efforts sustainable, even when our company is not making a profit.

Social media have already proven to be natural and effective tools in expanding a critically-needed conversation in our country about hunger.

We’re excited about the Pledge to End Hunger. It brings new partners into the issue of hunger, and allows us to support Share Our Strength, who came alongside Tyson as a phenomenal partner when we made a formal commitment to hunger relief in 2000. It’s built around the energy and enthusiasm of South by Southwest and offers the prospect of bringing thousands of new minds and fresh ideas to bear around a social problem that’s inexcusable in a country with the finest food production system in the world.

We can’t wait to see what happens. Please join us."

Please take a minute, visit the site and make your pledge today :)

Thank you!

Winner ~ Munchie Mug

The winner of the Munchie Mug chosen by random.org is

Comment #5 ~ @independentmami

Congratulations!!! Please contact me within 48 hours to claim your prize.

Thank you to everyone who entered my contest :) Keep coming back I have lots more goodies to share!

Why Moms Matter

While I was at Blissdom I met the greatest couple, Josh and Rebecca Unfried. I got to know a lot about them as we made lunch for 500 homeless men in downtown Nashville at the Nashville Rescue Mission with Mom it Forward . They are so sweet and I think it is great that they have a combined vision in their site MomFaves. I hope to someday see them again!

Here is a little more about Josh, Rebecca and MomFaves:

Rebecca and Josh Unfried are proud parents and the founders of MomFaves.com, the new mom word-of-mouth network™ that reveals what moms love most.

Josh and Rebecca created MomFaves to honor Josh's mom who died from cancer in 2004 and to empower moms in every neighborhood across the country with an easy and fun way to share and discover their favorite things together. As a result, moms have a free resource to rely and depend on daily for trusted mom recommendations.

The moms of MomFaves.com are in a position to spark a word-of-mouth revolution. What they are doing will not go unnoticed. They are building a universal brand for moms, a modern mother’s seal of approval behind the things they love most.

I also met Danielle Smith from Extraordinary Mommy at movie night at Blissdom, I was drawn to her because of her cute bunny slippers! After chatting with Danielle I found another great person I hope to see again someday, but for now its great to be her friend in the blogosphere :)

Here is a little more about Danielle:

Danielle Smith is a wife and Mommy to two young children. In her 'free time', she balances work as the founder and primary author of ExtraordinaryMommy.com as well as co-anchoring the new Blog Talk Radio Show – Why Moms Matter. She is also the Editor for StLouisKids.com and is a regular contributor to FamilyFoodies.com.

ExtraordinaryMommy.com is a website designed to remind moms of the Extraordinary work they do daily while loving and raising their children. The site provides resources as well a regular blog chronicling life as a Mommy - as Danielle sees it.

In her previous life (aka before children) Danielle was a Television News Anchor and Reporter as well as a Wedding Planner. Therefore, much of her life's experiences have been in writing, talking and listening. Both career paths have served to make her the author, organizer, social media addict and right-brained, creative girl she is now.

Recently mentioned in USA Today for her relationship with children's publisher, Mackinac Island Press, much of Danielle's energy is focused on teaching and sharing gratitude and 'giving back'. Through her Give Good, Get Good Project, Danielle hopes to help parents learn new ways to make a difference, and by example, to teach their children one of the most important traits they can possess - a kind and giving heart.

So, now we come to the fantastic project these 3 extraordinary souls have created: The Why Moms Matter Project and The Why Moms Matter Blog Talk Radio Show.

Being a mom is easily the most rewarding and the most challenging thing you have ever done. You love, you experience joy, you sacrifice – every day. You live a million ordinary moments…and each one of them combines to make you the Extraordinary mom you are. You might have one child or ten. You might stay home, or maybe you work – but you have something in common with millions of other mothers – You Matter. You are a teacher, a friend, a chauffeur, a cook, a craftsman, a doctor, and the best medicine a child could need. You put your family first and yourself last. Your challenge may be potty training, a toddler who throws regular temper tantrums, or something more painful – like balancing the grief of losing your own parent with the raising of your own little ones, or you may be putting on a brave face watching your very own child receive treatment for Leukemia. No matter what your day holds – You Matter.

The Why Moms Matter Project recognizes the beauty and the significance of Mothers. The Why Moms Matter Blog Talk Radio Show will highlight a new mother every week on Fridays at 12:30 Pacific, 2:30 Central. You will hear stories that will make you laugh and make you cry – but every story, every woman, will remind you Why Moms Matter. Each week’s featured mom will also be highlighted on Extraordinary Mommy as well as Why Moms Matter.

Join hosts Josh and Rebecca Unfried of MomFaves and Danielle Smith of Extraordinary Mommy as they uncover the stories that will remind moms they are living Extraordinary lives.

If you would like to nominate a mom you know with an Extraordinary story, go to Why Moms Matter . Nominated moms do not need to be bloggers, nor do they have to be ‘young’ mothers. Grandmothers have fantastic stories as well.

You can meet the first Why Moms Matter Award Recipient, Norma Unfried and hear her story here. Norma will be showcased on the first Why Moms Matter BTR show on Friday, March 6th at 3:30 Eastern Time. Tune in to hear all about this great mom and the great project Josh, Rebecca and Danielle have created.

Good luck guys!

Random Picture Challenge

Another week, another picture challenge

My computer that holds all my photos recently crashed and I don't have access to it right now, but I do have some photos on my laptop. Because of this I have to go with the 11th folder 11th photo this week. Here it is:

May 26th, 2008, we went to the Pittsburgh Zoo and here are the giraffes. They are (were) new to the zoo and this was the first time we had seen them. We love the zoo, we go about 6 times a year.

Click here to see the other photos for this week on 4 Little Men and Girly Twins