Dollar General/Procter & Gamble "Every Day Heroes"

Giveaway Closed. Winner is eclairre, congratulations!

Throughout the month of September, Dollar General® is teaming up with Procter & Gamble® to celebrate schools and honor teachers during its year-long “Every Day Heroes” campaign. Now, you can honor schools in your community. Dollar General is offering the opportunity to win money for your school through its “Write to Win” sweepstakes. Customers ages 21 and over may visit the Dollar General site to submit a brief essay about why their school deserves to win. Three essays will be selected and the winning schools mentioned in those essays will win $10,000 each. I have many friends in the education field who would love a chance to win $10,000! I urge you to participate or pass along the word to anyone you know who would like a chance to win for a great cause.

Procter & Gamble is providing a prize pack for one lucky Momfiles reader to win. This prize includes a sample of Tide PODS, Prilosec OTC, Cascade Action Pacs, Ultra Downy Scope Outlast mouthwash, a Dollar General cosmetic bag and a Dollar General reusable sandwich container. Enter below:
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Giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end on September 18, 2012. One winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted via email. Momfiles is not responsible for any lost or stolen prizes. Good luck!

 Procter & Gamble is providing me with a prize pack as well as one for the winner. No other compensation was received. All thoughts/opinions are 100% my own.

Wordless Wednesday

When the boy is with his dad, all is well in the world... until they both get hungry at least!

Mommy Mixology to the rescue! {Giveaway}

Moms, how often do you feel like you want to throw in the towel and run away from home? Sound familiar to you?  I think moms can get really overwhelmed with the duties of the day... from piles of laundry to walking through a sea of toys that you have should have been picked up hours ago. Of course, it's just not realistic to run away so we have to find alternative ways to relax. I received a fun book called Mommy Mixolgy by Janet Frongillo, that is designed just for moms to help you get through those crazy moments in motherhood. The thing that stuck out to me most is the blocks on the front cover of the book that reads "BAR" and also the part that says "A Cocktail for Every Calamity".

This book takes you through the stages of conception all the way to kindergarten. There are some cocktails called "Sleeptastic Sangria", "Cosmopotty" and "STFU Slushie". I couldn't help but chuckle and think, "Yeah, I sure could have used one of these when we were going through that stage!" There are so many great drink recipes for every occasion, even sickness and dealing with the PTA. There's a lot of great full-color photos of the fun cocktails decorated to suit the occasion. You have to check it out!

The book is filled with humorous content that is so easy to relate to. I think this would make the perfect baby shower gift. I guarantee that the mother-to-be would love it! It's a great conversation piece and I really believe any mom with kids of any age would appreciate it. You can purchase a copy of Mommy Mixology at Amazon for $14.95 or $9.99 for the Kindle edition.

How would you like to win a copy for yourself? (One winner) Enter below in the Raffecopter widget.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end on Sept 10, 2012. Please follow giveaway rules. Momfiles is not responsible for any lost or stolen prizes. Winner will be chosen at random and contacted by email.

I received a copy of the book for review. All opinions are 100% mine.

Our Great Wolf Lodge Experience

We had the great pleasure of experiencing Great Wolf Lodge (Concord, NC) to end our summer off with a splash! Unfortunately, the weather was not the best but it did not stop our adventure. Lucky for us, Great Wolf Lodge has an amazing indoor water park that is kept at a comfortable 84 degrees. Before I go into that, I will start by telling you our first impression when we drove up to the resort.

The entire family fell in love with the beautiful grounds and the enormity of the resort. The gorgeous wolf statues were huge! We were promptly greeted by a gentleman at the front entrance and directed to our parking spot. Then we entered through the front doors and immediately started oohing and ahhing. It was so beautiful inside, almost overwhelming at that! Our experience at the check-in desk was fast and the clerk was extremely professional and helpful. We felt as if we were the only guests on the property with the type of customer service we received. Truly first class!

Once we got our wristbands and room information, we headed up to our Family Suite. What a lovely suite it was! I can't begin to tell you all how clean and pretty the room was. There were so many wonderful details including the signature wolf towel on one of the beds, rustic decor, an in-suite safe, microwave/fridge/iron & ironing board, balcony with table and chairs and one of my favorites... the signature paw print embossed toilet paper. You can absolutely tell how much the resort management and staff care about their guests by how immaculate the property is inside and out. We had an abundance of towels, blankets and extra pillows. The beds were so comfortable and we slept soundly. We were amazed at how quiet it was in our suite since the resort was super busy and packed with so many families. Another great plus is how environmentally friendly the whole facility is by having recycling bins in each suite as well as all over the resort. Even the hair dryer in the room had green standards!

The hubby loved the balcony and enjoyed catching up on some reading and of course, sipping on his Dunkin Donuts coffee. The resort had so many food options to satisfy every family member. Believe me, we tried almost every spot! We had everything from pizza, ice cream, doughnuts, salads and so much more. I think our favorite place was the sweets and bake shop. Hey, we were on vacation!

Although this is not my photograph, I wanted to show you what the indoor water park was like. Truly amazing and everyone had a blast! There was something for every age. The water slides were incredible and the outdoor pool area was very nice and lots of fun! It was almost impossible to get the kids out of the water. Something I noticed was that EVERY lifeguard on duty was very focused and constantly looking around to make sure all the guests were safe. That truly made us feel at ease, especially with a 4 year old that can't swim yet.

The other big highlight of our visit was the Northern Lights Arcade. We ALL had so much fun and I can't remember the last time I laughed that much, non-stop! There were so many other activities but we did not have the time to do everything. We are planning to visit again when it is during the off-season.

Little William loved the story-time at night at the big Clocktower. He was completely mesmerized. He still continues to howl "Great Wolf style", as he likes to put it.

It was hard to get really clear photos with all the crowds and chaos going on but overall, we had the most wonderful experience at Great Wolf Lodge. I truly could go on for hours telling you even more but you need to go check it out for yourself. You and your family would NOT be disappointed! This was the most fun family getaway we have ever been on and we can't wait to do it again!

We want to give a big thank you to the entire Great Wolf Lodge staff for making us feel so welcome and comfortable. There was never a moment that we did not hear "We hope you enjoy your stay". That we did!

Stay connected with Great Wolf Lodge via the web, Facebook and Twitter for discounts and deals. 

I received a discounted rate from Great Wolf Lodge and all thoughts/opinions are 100% my own.

Why hydration is important

I made the most ridiculous mistake this weekend when my family went away on a getaway. I knowingly did not drink any water (besides maybe a few ounces) for about 3 days. As a matter of fact, I pretty much didn't drink a lot in general on those days. I normally drink a minimum of 60+ ounces of water daily. My body totally showed me how bad I had been. I suffered from several muscle spasms in my feet and a lot of aches and pains throughout my body. I got so consumed in all the activity that was going on and the weather was unusually cool, so I completely neglected to hydrate like I should have. I think being at an indoor water park made me not think about being thirsty. Needless to say, I had to get back into the practice of proper water consumption and have incorporated a banana and 2 servings of orange juice into my daily diet. I have learned my lesson, the hard way. I will do my best to never make that mistake again!

Does your body do crazy things when your diet is off?

Married to Jonas on E! and my tips for the newlyweds {Giveaway}

Contest ended- Winner is Cheryl Free

Have you guys heard about the new show on E! called Married to Jonas? I can't believe Kevin Jonas is all grown up and married! Kevin and his young wife Dani make the most adorable couple. Their show will chronicle their new life together as a married couple and also give a peek into their new families... with the in-laws! Oh, they have some very interestingly fun times ahead! Married to Jonas airs on Sunday's 10/9c.

It got me to thinking, being so young and married is not easy. You think things will be as perfect as the day you met, but man oh man do things change! It is important to get some good advice from seasoned couples to make sure you do all you can to make things work. Since I have been married for over 18 years, I feel like I know a thing or two. Here is my top ten list of marriage tips to Kevin and Dani and to all the newlyweds out there. 

1. Always try to impress each other. If the woman wore make-up and heels while dating, still do it. If the man dressed well and wore nice cologne, keep it up. Don't fall into the trap that your significant other loves you and there is no need to impress them anymore. Don't let yourselves go!  
2. Ladies, if you and your man are lost in the woods somewhere and he tells you to wait in a specific spot, stay your butt right there. I confess that as a woman, I tend to want to show my man that I can hang and end up getting both of us in more trouble! 
3. Gentleman, always tell your woman how beautiful she is. Don't tell her that because the world is always saying how beautiful she is that she knows you feel the same. She wants to hear it from YOU! 
4. Always appreciate each other. Never forget to thank your mate for all the little things. 
5. Ladies, let your man be a man. They need time to blow off steam and do "boy things". Perhaps not the same things they did when they were single, but you get the idea. 
6. Be honest each and every day. If you don't like something about your mate, tell them! Holding back never helps things. 
7. Give each other space. There will be times that you both drive each other crazy. Take some time away from each other. You don't have to be joined at the hip 24/7.
8. Have a sense of humor. You can't take every single thing so seriously. Laughter is so important to balance out all the serious stuff. 
9. Ladies, this is important. Be a lady in the street and a freak in the sheets. Seriously, just keeping it real! 
10. My last tip is very important and it is for the men. Gentleman, just know that the woman is always right. It will make for a lasting and happy marriage. It's as easy as that! 

Giveaway: 

One lucky Momfiles reader will win a fantastic In-Law Survival Kit ($112 value) 

The kit will include:

· Stress Relief - Eucalyptus Spearmint Sugar Scrub 

· Bliss Fabulous Skin-Reviving Rubberizing masks 

· Soothing Herbal Tea

· Aromatherapy Spa Stress Relief - Shea Butter & Cedarwood Reed Diffuser 

· $15 iTunes Gift Card 

· EarPollution Plugz Headphones

Enter below in the Rafflecopter widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end on Sept 7. Be sure to leave your email address in case you are selected as the winner. Please be sure to follow entry rules. Momfiles is not responsible for any lost of stolen prizes. Good luck!

I will receive the same prize package as the giveaway winner for posting. No other compensation was received and all thoughts/opinions are 100% my own.