Vinyl Banner from UPrinting {Review & Giveaway}

{This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to those who entered!}
Big Sister E's 3rd birthday is rapidly approaching and I have been working on putting together ideas for it. But one thing that always stumps me is decorating.

Sure, there are balloons and streamers and all kinds of traditional ways to show off our celebration, but there is always something missing. Our house has a somewhat open layout and it has always been crying out for a banner. Right across the living room or the wide doorway from the hall into the main room needs a banner. A big Happy Birthday banner to grab everyone's attention and get people in the mood to party.

The banners that I usually see online or in stores look something like this:

Or this:

And they just aren't... right. I don't want something generic, I want something special that I can use for my girls' birthdays for years to come that I will be proud to hang up in my house.

So, when UPrinting.com decided to sponsor a 24" x 36" vinyl banner with grommets giveaway, I knew I had found the way to go! UPrinting's vinyl banners are high quality, not a cheap, flimsy piece of plastic that is just going to get torn after one use. And the grommets are actually a really nice addition, also making it much less likely that the banner will get ripped or damaged when being put up or taken down.

Not in need of a birthday banner right now? How about using this for a wedding, graduation party, shop advertisement or welcome home sign? Hosting a baby shower soon? How about a It's A Boy (or Girl, of course) banner to set the mood? I am already thinking the possibilities are endless. UPrinting knows banner printing, so you can always check out their website for even more ideas and options.

One lucky person will win (1) 24" x 36" vinyl banner with grommets (a $62 value)!

To enter to win your 24" x 36" vinyl banner with grommets: Tell me how you would use the banner if you won. Do you have an occasion in mind already? Please do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile. I have to have a way to contact the winner.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed, please leave a separate comment for EACH entry)
1 Extra Entry - Enter any other current giveaways on Thanks, Mail Carrier (1 entry per giveaway entered). There are some great ones going on right now!
2 Extra Entries (leave 2 separate comments) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect.
2 Extra Entries (leave 2 separate comments) if you follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below (please leave me the link).

Decorate with a cool banner from @thxmailcarrier! 24x36 vinyl banner from @uprinting #giveaway. Enter now! http://bit.ly/3EVBof Ends 10/12

3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you put my cute new button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you blog about this giveaway, linking back to Thanks, Mail Carrier as well as UPrinting.com. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on October 12th at 11:59pm CST. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. Prize will be awarded by coupon code on November 1st, 2009. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.

A big thank you to UPrinting.com for providing me with an 24" x 36" vinyl banner with grommets of my own, as well as for one lucky giveaway winner. For me, I'm really looking forward to having a birthday banner to use to celebrate my daughters' birthdays for as long as they'll let me!

The Entitlement-Free Child {Review & Giveaway}

{This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to those who entered!}

My kids have toys. Too many toys. I've spent a lot of time at garage sales the past few summers and really can't pass up a good deal, so when there's a bargain calling out I can't seem to turn away and it ends up just having to come home with me. The girls have big toys and small toys and things that light up and blink and make noise (shudder) and things that are simple and wooden and run purely on imagination alone.


Even though it is an ongoing joke with family and friends that it's like walking into a toy store when you enter their playroom, I know that overindulging children is a serious issue and I've always been very careful about it with my own. No one wants to raise THAT CHILD. You know the one, the kind that has always been given everything they have ever wanted and is now screaming for a candy bar in the grocery store or yelling and stomping about having to wait their turn for a time on the swings at the park.

So, if no one wants to raise one of those children, how do some of them end up that way? Where can a parent find the strategies for how to bring up a well-rounded, respectful, confident child?


The Entitlement-Free Child, by Karen Deerwester, is a straightforward, easy to follow book that is written for parents to see results. What is entitlement? It's the "Me! Mine! Now!" attitude, often accompanied by a relentless demand for immediate gratification and a lack of self-control. Well-meaning parents who appease their child's every want and need are unknowingly taking away their child's ability to not only learn that self-control, but those children lose the knowledge of how to respect and work well with others and solve many of the problems they will encounter in life.

Deerwester writes, "The entitlement child doesn't accept 'enough' because he's afraid he might miss out on 'more.' The entitlement-free child, on the other hand trusts that his needs will be met, because he has learned that he can count on other people today and tomorrow. Life is okay even when he is frustrated, confused, or upset."

Parents want the best for their children, of course, and I'm included. But I know that I feel the same pressures that other moms do when it comes to giving them more than they really need to have a happy and memorable childhood. Will every choice that I make now affect the rest of their lives? If I haven't done my best at giving them all the advantages I can, will I be setting them back? In The Entitlement-Free Child, I learned that these are irrational thoughts and expectations to put upon myself and that it is okay to accept that I cannot make my children happy all the time.

Instead, this book highlights the entitlement or entitlement-free messages in parenting situations and shows you just how to meet your child's genuine needs while teaching respect and appreciation for others. The Entitlement-Free Child is a great resource for parents looking to encourage their child's potential and, from an early age, teach them that they matter. Other people matter. Not only that, but the two go hand in hand.

Would you like to have a resource to go to when you are looking for strategies to teach your children self-respect and respect for others? For hands-on tips to guide you through parenting situations such as bossiness, teacher conflicts and bickering siblings? Visit Karen Deerwester's website, Family Time, and...

One lucky person will win their own copy of The Entitlement-Free Child!

To enter to win your own copy of The Entitlement-Free Child: Tell me what about this book appeals to you or why you would like to win it. For yourself? For a friend? Please do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile. I have to have a way to contact the winner.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed, please leave a separate comment for each entry)
1 Extra Entry - Enter any other current giveaways on Thanks, Mail Carrier (1 entry per giveaway entered). There are some great ones going on right now!
2 Extra Entries (leave 2 separate comments) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect.
2 Extra Entries (leave 2 separate comments) if you follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link.

Raise respectful kids in a "me, mine, now!" culture: Enter "The Entitlement-Free Child" #giveaway @thxmailcarrier http://bit.ly/8Tl1l

3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you put my cute new button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you blog about this giveaway. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on October 5th at 11:59pm CST. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.

A big thank you to Sourcebooks for providing me with a copy of The Entitlement-Free Child, as well as for one lucky giveaway winner.

Rolled Poster Print from UPrinting {Review & Giveaway}

{This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to those who entered!}

My husband and I change our minds a lot when it comes to decorating our home. Ask him, and he'll put all the blame solely on me, but he's a part of the decisions, too. Or, at the very least, after being married to me for this many years, he should know how to help tone down my ideas a little bit sometimes.

Over the time that we have lived in this house, we have had a variety of art on our walls. We started by picking up a piece or two randomly in stores when it caught our eye and looked like it might match our decor. Then, we added to it with some of my homemade additions, fabric pieces or paintings that, at the time, I was happy with.

At the stage we are at now, we only buy art at local Art Fairs, if it is something we definitely love. Because, really? Everything has slowly been replaced with photographs. How can art, even really great art, complete with pictures of our family and our beautiful daughters?

(Borders added to represent the mat and frame that we had done)

A few months ago, I was very fortunate to win a giveaway from UPrinting.com for an 18" x 24" print. I not only loved how simple the process to upload and order my print was, but the results were fantastic and were done amazingly fast. My brother had come over to take some family portraits and this one was my absolute favorite. After adding the mat and frame, it now hangs in the first hallway you walk through after entering our house and we always get all kinds of comments and compliments on it when people come over.

I really don't think there is anything better than enlarged photographs. There is something about having a large picture, whether it be candid or posed, family or nature, that makes people stop and smile. But where do you go to have them done?

The answer is DigitalRoom.com. Committed to providing a high quality printing experience at affordable prices, Digital Room covers all of your digital printing needs. Need some posters printed? Digital Room does that. How about greeting cards? Yes, they do that, too. Calendars, stickers or postcards? Those, plus more. I can't imagine growing tired of the family picture that I have up on my wall, but if years down the road I want to replace it with an updated one, I'll head to DigitalRoom.com for a fast, easy and affordable piece of art that can't be beat.

One lucky person will win (1) 18" x 24" rolled poster print of their own! The sponsor of this giveaway, DigitalRoom.com, is even throwing in FREE UPS Ground Shipping so you don't have to pay a dime to have this delivered right to your door!

To enter to win your 18" x 24" rolled poster print: Tell me how you would use the poster print if you won. What picture would you enlarge? Where would you put it? Please do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile. I have to have a way to contact the winner.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed)
1 Extra Entry - Describe your favorite picture of all time.
2 Extra Entries (leave 2 separate comments) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect.
2 Extra Entries (leave 2 separate comments) if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below (please leave me the link).

Enlarge your favorite pic @thxmailcarrier! 18x24 rolled poster print from @uprinting #giveaway. Enter now! http://bit.ly/114kK0 Ends 9/28

3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you put my cute new button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you blog about this giveaway, linking back to Thanks, Mail Carrier as well as DigitalRoom.com. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on September 28th at 11:59pm CST. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. Prize will be awarded by coupon code on October 1st, 2009. Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.

A big thank you to DigitalRoom.com for providing me with an 18" x 24" rolled poster print of my own, as well as for one lucky giveaway winner. For me, an enlarged photograph of all of her grandchildren will make a perfect birthday gift for my mother.

Interactive Book-Webscene {Review & Giveaway}

{This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to those who entered!}

Sometimes I think it's strange to ponder how different it is for my kids growing up now than it was for me.

Whoa there, slow down, I'm not THAT old.

It's just that technology has come so far even in the past 20 years that things are really different. When I played games, they were made out of cardboard and paper and plastic and had pieces that moved, they weren't a cartridge that plugged into my TV. In school, when I wrote a paper, my bibliography was a list of books and articles that I used, not websites.

Remember those lined papers that we used to copy and practice our penmanship because it was important to be able to write legibly? Now there is widespread debate about whether cursive writing is even necessary because my kids are going to grow up doing everything on a computer. They won't write a letter, they'll email. Or text. Or use Twitter. Will I have to finally start using Facebook just so that I can keep up with what's going on in my girls' lives?

When I was young, my family spent countless hours at the library picking out books. This is something that my daughters and I do now and Big Sister E has followed in my footsteps and loves to read (Little Sister B likes books too, but she mostly just likes the feel of flipping the pages. Or chewing on the book jackets). Big Sister E can often be found pouring over the pictures in books, chatting nonstop about the story she sees in them. Every morning, every evening, before nap, after nap... books are a prominent feature in our house.

But really, how can books keep up with the changing of the times? With all of the new, interactive gadgets, how can books resist becoming obsolete to kids?


Meet Interactive Book-Webscene (IBW), a new kind of reading experience. These aren't just books. They are a storytelling process combining an actual print book with the interactivity of online animations. It's simple. You begin by reading a chapter from the book and at the end, you find a weblink. When you go online, you find a colorful animation, or other webscene (complete with sound), that is part of the story.

Not surprisingly, Big Sister E was seeming a little skeptical as to what was going on, mainly because I don't think we've ever sad down to read books together in front of the computer. But as soon as I got to the end of the first chapter and pulled up the webscene, she was hooked.

"Mommy! Mommy, Look! It's on the 'puter!"

After viewing the scene, which we did MULTIPLE times, it was back to the book to read another chapter. There are at least six webscenes included in every IBW book and Big Sister E enjoyed every one. When we got to the end of our KA Reader (aimed at beginning readers and their development of vocabulary and comprehension), she was clamoring to begin again.

I eventually talked Big Sister E into moving on to our second book, a sample from IBW's Busy Preschoolers selections. These books are built around the letters of the alphabet and have step-by-step instructions for parents to help teach kids a ton of skills that they will use as they enter school. IBW knows that children have different learning styles, so their activities (such as the puzzle seen at left) use multiple approaches so that whether you have a visual, kinetic or auditory learner, any child will have a good experience.

Big Sister E wasn't completely sold on the activities that were suggested in our book, but again, when I went to the webscene, she perked right up. Even better than that, when we followed the link at the bottom, she loved the ABC-TRACE-123 handwriting program that we found. With each letter of the alphabet, she (with my help) was able to click and drag animal icons to fill in the letter, which she thought was great. I liked that she was having fun while also learning the correct way to write letters, something that she definitely doesn't know how to do.

By the time we were done with the ABC-TRACE-123 letters, Big Sister E was ready to go back to our KA Reader again. And again. And again.

Later in the day, she was still asking if we could read it a few more times. When my husband came home from work and she was telling him about our day, I asked if she could tell him about our new books. She was not only able to describe the entire storyline, but Big Sister E remembered all of the small details. Usually she retains the main ideas from a book that we read, but I was impressed at just how much she had learned. As well as the repetition, I think that because these books are interactive she paid closer attention to them.


Do you think IBW books sound like something you would enjoy and like to share with others (while making some extra money in the process)? Check out the IBW Bookseller program where you can find out how to sell these unique products and make a 20% commission on all sales at the close of each hosted event!

One lucky person will win their choice from two great IBW prizes:

The Busy Preschooler's Guide to Learning - fun activities built around the 26 letters of the alphabet, with step-by-step help to guide parents in how to use everyday situations to teach 105 skills their kids need before they walk in the kindergarten door.

OR

Three KA Readers - beginning readers that use a new kind of storytelling where kids see an animation unfold at the close of every chapter. Dr. Seuss-like rhyming hooks kids on the fun of words. Online activities help parents assess a child's reading and comprehension.

Both of these prizes have a retail value of $60 and would be a wonderful way to keep the child(ren) in your life interested in reading... while secretly hiding their educational value in a whole bunch of fun!

To enter to win your choice of IBW prizes: Visit IBW and tell me what feature of their books is your favorite. Please do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile. I have to have a way to contact the winner.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed)
1 Extra Entry - Visit IBW Booksellers and tell me something interesting you learned there.
2 Extra Entries (leave 2 separate comments) if you follow me with Google Friend Connect.
2 Extra Entries (leave 2 separate comments) if you follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway (leave me the link). Feel free to copy and paste:

Make books comes alive! Interactive Book-Webscene #giveaway: win a choice of 2 great prizes! @thxmailcarrier http://bit.ly/4855at Ends 9/29

3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you put my cute new button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.
3 Extra Entries (leave 3 separate comments) if you blog about this giveaway. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on September 29th at 11:59pm CST. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen. Giveaway open to U.S. residents.

A big thank you to Mary at IBW for providing me with information and books to review as well as a great prize for one lucky giveaway winner. I was given the opportunity to review this product because of my membership at The Product Review Place.