This Full House Reviews

DYMO LabelManager 260P Review & Giveaway

Tomorrow is the first day of school (for 3 out of 4 of my kids, anyway) and I am looking forward to getting back to a normal, school day, schedule.

Keeping track of ALL the paperwork coming home, from 4 different schools, not so much!!!

So, when the good folks representing DYMO contacted me about trying out their LabelManager 260P hand held label maker (pictured above) I was all, like, yes, please!

Powered by a lithium-ion battery (the same technology used to power cell phones and laptop computers) the DYMO LabelManager 260P label maker helps eliminate the added need for keeping any more AA batteries in the house (YAY!) 

Why?

I can charge the unit (just like a laptop) and start labeling well, anything and everything that I can, you know, stick a label on, really.

Want to see?

Kelloggs Mom's Breakfast Club: Corn Pops Frittata Recipe

I had the pleasure of attending a beautiful breakfast (in the same building Nate Berkus lives in!) hosted by the Kellogg's brand during BlogHer '10 in New York City and got the chance to greet (and eat!) with many of my fellow Mom's Breakfast Club bloggers.

In a couple of weeks, I’ll have the privilege of hosting a group of friends over to my house for a back-to-school brunch. We’ll be able to enjoy a nice meal and Skype with a Kellogg’s representative to share more about what breakfast means to our family.

Should be fun, right?  In the meantime, I'm really looking forward to making my FAVORITE item from the Kellogg's breakfast -- Corn Pops Frittata -- want to see?

Classical Music Meets Classical Rock: David Garret Rock Symphonies Review & CD Giveaway

I had the pleasure of listening to German-born (not to mention, uber-handsome) musician David Garrett play live while attending the Bloganthropy Awards dinner held during BlogHer '10 in New York City and remember thinking to myself:

"Man, that boy can play a violin!!!"

Seriously, I love listening to classical music (especially, while I'm attempting to cook dinner) much to the disdain of my children (especially, the teenagers) until...

"Hey, I know THAT song!!!"

It was David's version of "Walk This Way by Aerosmith," aaaand, the words weren't even out of my mouth...

"Ohhhh, he is SO cute,who IS he?!?"

Yes, David Garrett is very cute AND talented.

I was excited to receive a copy of David Garrett's Rock Symphonies CD from my friends at Team Mom and was reminded, once again, what happens when classical music meets classical rock and if, you know, they had a baby.

Want to see?

Open House Blog Tour #62: Get Your Linky Love Bytes, Right Here!

Welcome to our 62nd Weekly Open House Blog Tour!

My husband, Garth [not his real name] and I love attending open houses - especially, if it's a home that we've admired from the sidewalk, or wondered...you know...what the heck is going on in there?

Same thing with blogs, right?

So please, clean off a chair, sit down and feel free to leave your links (PG-13, please) about any blogging events, fundraisers, giveaways, book tours and contests, or if you have a burning blog post and just need to shout out (HEY!) go for it!

Mi feed reader y su feed reader!

WHAT, IS YOUR LINK TOO LONG? NO PROBLEM: Shorten your links with http://bit.ly/ (it's easy AND free!) or, if you need to edit a link -- just let me know!

Okay, I'll start:

Thanks SO MUCH for sharing and don't hesitate to come back, next week -- we'll leave the porch light on for ya!

MEET THE BLOGGERS: PREVIOUS OPEN HOUSE BLOG TOURS

See you next Thursday!

© 2010 This Full House Gone Shopping

I Can't Believe It's Butter!: Late Summer Grilling Gift Pack

COMMENTS ARE CLOSED: Looking forward to sharing this with two (2) of you, real soon!!!

Shrimp Scampi Skewers - get the recipe, here!

I had the pleasure of visiting with the nice folks representing Unilever (as it turns out, makers of a surprisingly large number of items found in my bathroom and kitchen at the moment) while attending and/or rescuing injured bloggers at the BlogHer 2010 Conference in New York City.

I got to sample some of their delicious dishes (my favorite being, the Shrimp Scampi Skewers, pictured above, courtesy of the I Can't Believe It's Butter brand) chatted with professional chefs, like Unilever Test Kitchen Chef Normajean and learned ridiculously simple ways to spice up my grill, here at home, too.

Now, it's YOUR turn!

Here are a few quick and simple ideas to add great flavor to a few grilling favorites:

Kids Can STILL Bowl FREE at KidsBowlFree.com!

I may be a little late to the party on this one -- go figure -- but, have you heard about the Kids Bowl Free program?

A friend of mine invited my youngest (she's 9) to bowl last week and reminded me to, you know, register (in mid-August?) so, that she can bowl for FREE.

Thank goodness, there's no deadline to register and our bowling center's program doesn't end until mid-September.

HOW THE KIDS BOWL FREE PROGRAM WORKS:

Calling All Pork Grilling Groupies: Win a Trip to NYC Wine & Food Festival!

COMMENTS ARE CLOSED: We are VERY happy to be sharing this with LAMusing (comment #49) and Sugar2006 (comment #38) please check your email accounts for further instructions!!!

Pork.  It's what's for dinner (at our house, mostly) especially, with only 2 more weekends left before school starts.

[moment of silence]

I've got some great grilling tips to share with you from celebrity chef, Melissa d'Arabian - host of Food Network's Ten Dollar Dinners and winner of the fifth season of The Next Food Network Star.

Download Melissa's Tips for Grilling Pork, here!

Also, if you're REALLY into grilling, you may be interested to learn about the Calling all Grillers with Groupies Contest.  What's in it for you?

The grand prize winner will be awarded a trip to New York City to meet and cook with Melissa  at the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival in October.  

Pretty suh-weet ticket for foodies AND foodie-admirers, right?

To help celebrate the last days of grilling season (here in Jersey, anyway) the good folks representing The National Pork Board have kindly offered a great little prize pack to share with one (1) of our online friends, too.

Because, we roll like that!

August is Back-to-School Safety Month

Because, you are NEVER too old to learn about AND share back-to-school safety tips...right?

© 2010 This Full House Gone Shopping

The Small Gray-ish Print:  This Full House is not affiliated with Safe Kids USA.  Just sharing stuff I find in my inbox, or information that I think may be helpful to other parents (like me!)

Super Cute Back-to-School Gift Pack from Paul Frank

COMMENTS ARE CLOSED: We are SO HAPPY to be able to share this with Amy (comment #52!!!)

We've got 2 more weeks before school starts -- seriously, where DID the summer go -- and I find myself NOW scrambling to get as much family time in, as possible, before the alarm clocks begin to ring, again!

Did I mention, I have 4 kids going to 4 different schools...AGAIN...this year!?!?

Speaking of monkeys (heh!) my kids just love them (okay, me too!) and the Paul Frank brand has a very cute line of back-to-school items available at OfficeMax and the Apple store, this year.

Want some?

Nominate Your Local School: 2010 Power A Bright Future Grant by Clorox!

I had the pleasure of meeting with representatives of The Clorox Company, while attending BlogHer '10 Conference and learned more about their 2010 Power A Bright Future Grant Program:

• Power A Bright Future is a grant program aimed at providing necessary resources to help support school programs that enrich kids’ lives.

• As part of Power A Bright Future, Clorox is calling on individuals to nominate schools in need for a chance to win a $50,000 grand-prize grant or one of three $20,000 grants to help provide critically needed resources to schools programs that enrich kids’ lives and create brighter futures.

• In December, four schools will be chosen to receive grants and the opportunity to impact the lives of children in their communities.

Raising 4 kids, attending 4 different schools (yes, really!) we are no strangers to the trials and tribulations (mostly, trials) of fighting to keep programs, like art and music, in our school budget.

How can you (and I) get involved?

Help Spiegel.com Give Back to Educators: Share 15% OFF With Your Favorite Teacher!

In the years when I actually wore business suits, B.C. (before children) I would often order from the Spiegel Catalog, B.I. (before Internet) and now they are launching their first ever SPIEGEL LOVES TEACHERS campaign.

Spiegel has partnered with the National Education Association to give back to all educators by offering 15% OFF at Spiegel.com -- simply enter the code TEACH at checkout to redeem.

Click here to take the quiz yourself and find out your Signature Style!

Now, if I could only convince SOME folks that there is to such a thing as being fashionably-challenged and that, in some cases, it may just be, you know, irreversible!

© 2010 This Full House Gone Shopping

Small Gray-ish Print:  No payments, products, or considerations, other than a chance to help families (like ours) save a little money, was received for this blog post.

The Divvies Bakery Cookbook: No Nuts, No Eggs, No Dairy Fudge Recipe AND Giveaway!

COMMENTS ARE CLOSED: YAY, we're sharing with Julie L (comment #27) please check your email for further instructions!

My middle girl and I are allergic to mango and, cooking for 6 people, I feel pretty lucky that's pretty much the extent of the food allergies we're dealing with at our house.

Still, their schools have become vigilant in monitoring the snacks that they share with their classmates and I can only imagine how hard it must be for those families with children suffering from severe food allergies.

I received a copy of The Divvies Bakery Cookbook and was very happy to learn that there are plenty of yummy treats with no nuts, no eggs, no dairy.

Like, author Lori Sandler's famous fudge recipe -- which, I am VERY happy to have been given permission to share with you -- first, a little more about the author:

Open House Blog Tour #61: Get Your Linky Love Bytes, Right Here!

Welcome to our 61st Weekly Open House Blog Tour!

My husband, Garth [not his real name] and I love attending open houses - especially, if it's a home that we've admired from the sidewalk, or wondered...you know...what the heck is going on in there?

Same thing with blogs, right?

So please, clean off a chair, sit down and feel free to leave your links (PG-13, please) about any blogging events, fundraisers, giveaways, book tours and contests, or if you have a burning blog post and just need to shout out (HEY!) go for it!

Mi feed reader y su feed reader!

WHAT, IS YOUR LINK TOO LONG?  NO PROBLEM:  Shorten your links with http://bit.ly/ (it's easy AND free!) or, if you need to edit a link -- just let me know!

Okay, I'll start:

Thanks SO MUCH for sharing and don't hesitate to come back, next week -- we'll leave the porch light on for ya!

MEET THE BLOGGERS:  PREVIOUS OPEN HOUSE BLOG TOURS

See you next Thursday!

© 2010 This Full House Gone Shopping

Milky Way Simply Caramel Relax and Enjoy Gift Pack!

Comments are Closed: Sharing with Mitch J (comment #45) and Kristie (comment #23) please check your email!!!

Having spent 4 days away from home and saving a fellow BlogHer in NYC (read about my ambulance ride with BusyMom, yet?) I feel it pretty safe to say that re-entry into the real world can be, you know, REAL rough!

In fact, I'm STILL trying to recover!

So, to help celebrate Hump Day (seriously, where IS the week going?) I thought it would be fun to take a break, kick back and share a little treat with you (yes, maybe even YOU!) how about a couple of the new Milky Way Simply Caramel bars and a trip to the spa, sound good?

Nanny McPhee Returns Sneak Preview and Nanny Pack Giveaway

Comments are closed:  Sharing with Katrina (comment #2) Melanie (comment #26) and Karen M (comment #6) enjoy!!!

She first introduced herself in 2005 and, quite honestly, I am a sucker for feel-good movies like Nanny McPhee! 

Starting on August 20th, Emma Thompson returns to the role of the magical nanny who appears when she’s needed the most and wanted the least in the next chapter.

This time, she appears at the door of a harried young mother, Mrs. Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal) who is trying to run the family farm while her husband is away at war.  However, once she’s arrived, Nanny McPhee discovers that Mrs. Green’s children are fighting a war of their own against two spoiled city cousins who have just moved in and refuse to leave.

Maggie Smith (who I absolutely adore) also stars, however, this installment does NOT include Colin Firth (who I've been crushing on since Pride and Prejudice) still, I am looking forward to Nanny McPhee Returns and celebrating with a little back-to-school giveaway, too!

First, the sneak preview: