THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ENTERED!

A Little Factoid

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed July as National Ice Cream Month. He also established National Ice Cream Day as the third Sunday in the month. He also appointed the third Sunday in July as National Ice Cream Day. Reagan recognized the popularity of ice cream in the United States (90% of the nation’s population consumes ice cream) and stated that these two events should be observed with “appropriate ceremonies and activities.”

A comprehensive history of Ice Cream can be read here.

So in honor of this beautiful day and month, DoubleBugs will be giving away 2 free pint coupons of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream to two lucky winners! What can be better than that?

Here’s what ya gotta do to win:

Leave me a comment on this post and tell the world what your favorite flavor of Ben & Jerry’s is and leave me a favorite ice cream recipe.

Please leave me a way to contact you!

Please feel free to link to my site or grab my badge for an extra entry.

Please only enter once!

Contest ends Sunday, July 27th at 11:59pm

Good Luck!!!

Both of my boys are just at the age where they are showing an interest in potty training. They usually tell us when they have given us a little present in their diaper, so I figured that we should probably think about getting a potty of some sort.

The Boon Potty Bench has exceeded all of my expectations for a potty. I couldn’t make up my mind whether I was going to allow the boys to sit on the big toilet, or if we would do potty chairs for them. The logical choice, I decided, would be a potty chair. First off it is easier for them to get to and secondly, they both want to do the same thing at the same time.

The Potty Bench has locking compartments on the sides that lock when the lid is closed on the bench. The compartments are roomy and hold a roll of toilet paper, a container of wipes, and can also hold a little book or some potty training rewards. When the potty isn’t in use, it doubles as a step stool or bench. Both of the boys have been using it to wash their hands and to brush their teeth. They actually can both stand on it at the moment, side by side! It is even sturdy enough to hold me and can manage up to 300 lbs. I was pleasantly surprised, and intend on getting a second one, so there is no fighting over it. It is definitely worth the investment. Last thing you want is a potty that doesn’t hold up to wear and tear.

The Boon Potty Bench typically sells for about $35 and 10% of their profits are donated to children’s charities. So not only are you getting a great product, but you are helping a good cause.

We currently have a cat and a Golden Retriever in the house.  Our Golden, apparently is having a hair loss issue and despite our efforts to help her lose weight, we haven’t had much luck.  So we took her in to the vet to get checked out because her beautiful golden locks are disappearing and she is actually going bald almost!  She also is rather sluggish and doesn’t really play anymore and she is only three.   They are pretty sure it is her thyroid, so we are just waiting for the results then she will be on medicine for the rest of her life.  It isn’t as bad as it sounds, because she will get her hair back and her pep back!

I am always watching those home improvement shows. I am usually the one who gets all the crazy ideas to re-do something in the house.  My husband just laughs at me.  I have always wanted a bathroom done in those cool blue glass mosaic tiles. Blue is my favorite color anyway, and reminds me of the ocean.  At the Glass Tile Store they have hundreds of different glass tiles that are well below wholesale prices. They offer samples so you can see how its gonna look before hand, and the site is well organized. I am thinking seriously about re-doing my bathroom. It is a rather ambitious endeavor but someone has to do it!

I am not sure what is up with the bugs this year! I normally am happy to be outside, but lately I have just had enough. I guess it is all the rain we have been having? I have already had three ticks on me.. yuck!
Right now my husband and I have Japanese Beetle traps out. They are the things that are grubs in your lawn, and become these beastly looking things. They are all over my rose bush outside.

So we put up these trap things, that have some sort of scent lure and they can’t fly very well and get stuck. We have already caught a few thousand of these things. Speaking of not flying well, I had the not so lucky privilege of having one stuck in my hair! EEK! Now I can handle bugs, as long as they leave me alone!

The story goes…

My husband and the boys and some friends of ours were outside, while I came inside to finish up dinner. I am busy washing the strawberries and I hear a buzzing. So by now I’m sensing there is something in my hair. I instantly start to panic and I reach up with a paper towel and I can feel it there! So I turn my head upside down and I’m already screaming…(nobody in the house but me). Here I am doing something akin to an Indian rain dance, trying to untangle this beast from my hair! I finally managed to get it out, just shy of a heart attack and everyone coming back in. My heart was pounding and I am seriously considering shaving my head LOL!

Anyway, thats my story and I’m sticking to it. I DON’T DO BUGS! Goodness what am I gonna do when my boys start bringing them home to me as gifts? I will pray very hard for this not to happen!

I am currently shopping for the boys for their birthdays. They are in need of some new toys to refresh their playroom and new things to stimulate their growing little brains! I wish that more sites would give a comprehensive listing of toys by age and also some sort of review. I have also found that a lot of toys that are meant for a two year old are a little too basic for them. I guess the search continues. Eight more days till my babies turn two….*cry*

I had the wonderful opportunity to do a review of Princess Linens. The store is charming and seems to carry a little bit of everything. One thing in particular that caught my fancy was their Doodlebugz crayon keepers.

Both of my boys are getting to the stage where they are requesting to draw almost daily. We just keep all of their crayons in a plastic bag. The box they come in, almost never holds up. The crayon keeper does the trick! Each one comes with 24 crayola crayons, and can hold up to 64!

Each one of them can be personalized with your child’s name. They are perfect gifts for your little artist. I plan on ordering a couple more for my two as they love to DRAW!

Princess Linens would like to offer DoubleBugs readers 15% off their purchase. Just enter the coupon code (DOODLEBUGS) at checkout!

The boys are growing leaps and bounds in their development, and more noticeably in their vocabulary. It was like all of a sudden they woke up talking! Their favorite thing to play now it I gotchu! It is so cute to watch because they come up to me and try and tickle me and say I GOTCHU mommy! I usually go after them and they just laugh and spit all over themselves. They get to laughing so much that eventually the only thing they can get out is I GOT before they take off running and laughing in between hiccups! LOL

Today Nicholas has a new word…it is Octopus! But he pronounces it Pot-o-puts hehe…so cute!

Most of us out there have at least one credit card on average. I am always doing the credit card shuffle in order to get the best rates and deals on my cards. With the rising gas costs, the last thing I need is a card with high interest on them! I ran across a really good site that sort of gives you the low down on different cards. For example low interest credit cards are often hard to find and require some research. At Credit Cards Club they have it very nicely organized in one spot so it is easier to navigate. So go have a look and check it out!

1. Chocolate: Its a good thing because I always have it on hand here at the house LOL It’s partiularly good when the toddlers are bouncing off the walls and I need a “me” moment. The kind of chocolate that’s good for you is the dark or bitter chocolate (you can wash it down with some milk chocolate haha). It contains chemicals called polyphenols that reduce the presence of free radicals, which cause cell and DNA damage. It also protects the heart.

2. Red Wine: Well I never have really liked alcohol of any kind. Now folks this doesn’t mean get slopping drunk. Polyphenols are the key - chemicals such as tannins and flavonoids in the grape skin and seeds that are powerful antioxidants.

3. Stress: SAY WHAT?!!! Ok, well long term stress is no good, but short bursts are good for the whole “fight or flight”…used to help keep men protected against predators…does that mean my kids are the predators? LOL!

4. Ice cream: WOOOHOOOO! Ice cream is low GI, which means it releases its sugar gradually into your blood after you’ve eaten it, which means you’re not left wanting another pint lol. Bring on the Ben & Jerry’s. I can handle this one folks!

5. White bread: White bread flour is fortified with calcium and iron as well as B1 and niacin. And because white bread has less fiber, it means that more of the calcium is absorbed. As a rule you should stick with whole grain breads…but at least white bread isnt totally bad for you

6. Work: Ugh makes me feel tired. But work helps you stay healthy. It helps reinforce your sense of social worth and extending your life expectancy. Guess the houseworkk isn’t totally thankless LOL

7. Coffee: Well that’s a yuck for me. Coffee contains antioxidates, and tannins which help unblock the arteries and protects the heart. It’s also good for the liver to protect against cirrhosis. One cup a day lowers your risk by 20%!

8. Baked beans: Yummy! Genuinely just good for the heart and I would imagine high in protein. Break out the Beano folks…they aren’t without some downwind risk! LOL

9. Guinness: Not the book…the beer. Yuck! Apparently a pint of the dark black stuff is much like a daily aspirin.

10. Newspaper Lists: Apparently reading long lists in papers helps with stress..go figure.

You can read more about it HERE