Giving away one cute four year old. Oh no, no NO WAIT! I meant update on the four year old, reports on random giveaways...

Hello internets! (If there's anyone left reading here, that is). In case you didn't notice, I did not post a thing for four whole months. Then my good for nothing cat kicked the bucket and of course I had to honor him with a post, because despite being a pain in the neck a lot of the time, I did really, really love that bag of bones fur-ball.

My point is, I have been kind of deciding whether to continue this blog at all. Back when I started it a decade ago, I had a good old time posting silly signs. But these days everyone is already posting the same type of thing on Facebook so why click all the way to a blog?

I like having recipe posts up because it's easy to send a recipe to friend or my children and they do get a TON of views. But...recipes are not that fun to post.

So for today I just decided on a little family update and a giveaway review.

Family update: we are fighting fruit flies like crazy, my boy got his license, and the Head of Demolition, Little Miss Four Years Old has strep and possibly hand, foot & mouth disease.

Still cute though, no?

Now onto the giveaway review. Once upon a time my now 21 year old wanted to win a jacket online. I told her, "No one wins that stuff!" But I was wrong. She won a beautiful teal jacket that she loved for many years.

Ever since I have been AMAZED at how much stuff gets given away over the internet. And yeah sure every now and then there's a scandal and maybe actually someone didn't win something. But mostly, there's just a ton of bloggers and social media influences out there hoping that if they give away enough stuff, you'll follow them on Facebook or whatever.

I've won a couple Amazon cards, some books, a cheese plate, and a bunch of fabric that I ended up giving to Goodwill because I forgot when I entered the giveaway that I don't actually sew.

In any case, here are a couple I saw this week that I thought were interesting:

- Canon EOS Rebel T5 Digital SLR Camera (plus a lightbox and some kind of start up photo course)

- Lego (or Lego compatible?) Star Trek Enterprise building set

The silliest giveaway I've seen this week is one for 2000 Flushes (plus a $25 Walmart gift card).

And of course, you can still find so many, many other giveaways to enter (or links for your own giveaway) on my giveaway page.

DISCLAIMER: First off, the three giveaway pictures are NOT mine (they came from Pixabay) and do NOT show the actual prize. Secondly, I am NOT running any of these giveaways. They are just the most interesting ones I happened to see while I was looking around (I mean 2000 Flushes!). I am not responsible for providing the prizes nor are the giveaways associated with me in any way, shape or form. So please don't sue me.




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In Which I Meet a Friend and Give Away Her New Book

I made a new friend in Blogsilvania a couple months ago and then...wonder of wonders!  I actually got to MEET her!  Which never, ever happens to me.  Our kids had a great time destroying playing at the Museum of Natural Science and every so often Kerrie and I even got a word in edgewise.

The scene of the crime: hanging from a molecule

I was sad that Kerrie's husband wasn't going to be working in Houston again anytime soon, but so happy to get my hands on a copy of her book!

I had always wondered how to get started writing for regional family magazines, and here Kerrie knew all along.  She has all the information and advice you need to get started right in her book! Not only that but here's your chance to WIN Kerrie's book for FREE!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Of course, if you're not the contest entering type, you can always buy a copy from my affiliate link:

Make Money to Write About Your Kids

Good luck people and happy writing!!!

In Which the Tortilla Recipe Gets Tabled Once Again (in favor of a giveaway and some cute baby pictures)

Contains affiliate links

I LOVE Zulily because just look at this kid - doesn't she look too sweet to have just flashed our entire neighborhood, darting through the front yard bare naked in a mad dash toward our busy street?

So here's the thing: I was just about to put up the poor, doomed tortilla recipe once more when I received an email from Zulilly saying that this very brand that mistakenly makes her look so sweet is NOW ON SALE!

Not only that, but Zulily is SO reasonably priced that I accidentally bought two of this same exact dress without realizing it.  So...I'm giving one away.

And if you feel like clicking around Zulilly while the contest is running, this is my affiliate link (meaning I get a 10% finders fee if you were to actually buy anything).

The dress is by Free Planet and is a size 3T!

Now does this honestly look like someone who would streak through the front yard giggling maniacally?

Ok...maybe it does.

So anyway, on to the giveaway folks!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Open in USA only.
Have fun and good luck everyone!

In Which I Receive Something New for Our Chief of Destruction to Perform Her Magic - (plus GIVEAWAY!)

I have been using the Tea Tree/Melaleuca essential oil since 1998.  That's how hip and ahead of my time I am.

This once.

By accident.

So no one could be happier than me that essential oils have unexpectedly become trendy and ubiquitous. And *obviously* I was excited to get this pack of bath products chock full o' essential oils!!

Now, here's the part where I have to offer a disclaimer.  It's just an offer:

My new friend Nicole from It's The Balm sent me these bath products to review AND giveaway!!!!  And yet, all my opinions are my own.

(If she had wanted someone else's opinion, I assume she would have asked them.  And not me.)

So here's my honest to goodness true review.

It passed the "I have to be able to pronounce all the ingredients" test.  It even passed the "I know what all the ingredients are" test.  So...I sort of knew that before I approached Nicole in the first place, truth be told.

Test two - the smells.  Since our Chief Travel Correspondent has both eczema and asthma, I've been careful about smells and stuff for so many years that I've gotten pretty sensitive to it.  Here's the weird part!

Even my Partner in Crime enjoys the smell of these products!  That pretty much never happens.  Usually I use something new and he's all, "What's that smell?"

But fair's fair.  I generally do the same to him.

And now for the specific stuff:

The body lotion is nice.  It is a surprising pink color and feels a little tingly almost.  It smells great, and I even tried it out on areas where I can tell eczema is ready to pounce if winter in Houston lasts any longer.  The eczema to be did not complain one bit!

The hand sanitizer: what can you really say about hand sanitizer?  I can't see the germs, but it smells and feels nice.  I'm hoping the germs are running like crazy, because I teach preschool, so I practically hold a meet and greet for every last germ that enters the greater Houston area.

The foot scrub is WONDERFUL!  I've tried making the stuff myself, and although what I made scrubbed and smelled nice, this really soothes and scrubs at the same time.  The one I made just kind of left the bathtub sort'a greasy.

The foaming bath wash is equally as DIVINE!  It looks like a regular foaming wash, but it feels like a million bucks!  It's smooth and moisturizing and smells incredible!  Considering it's truly reasonably priced, it makes for a wonderful small luxury.

The candle. I'm not really a candle person.  I used to be before all the allergies, eczema, and asthma led me to ban them.  But my Chief Travel Correspondent is the only one with actual asthma, and she left for college, so we threw caution to the wind.  And, to be honest, the wind ended up smelling pretty nice!  Plus there's no dreaded lead or phlalates (I didn't even know phalates were a thing in candles, but none for me thanks!)

Now my FAVORITE!!!!  The foot balm!  I am ever in need of a great foot balm and this one did not disappoint!  It has Tea Tree Oil (did I mention I've been using Tea Tree Oil since 1998?) and is whipped and wonderful.

Actually, ALL the products (except maybe the candle) have essential oils and smell fantabulous.  And here's something even MORE wonderful!  Nicole has put together a gift pack for me to give to one of you guys!!

So why not get some free?

It turns out that Nicole is GIVING some of her bath products away!  Look at the nice set she put together!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

So let's enter and win, folks!

Disclosin':

Prize will be mailed AFTER 2/8/2015.  No purchase necessary. US entries only. Must be 18 years or older to win. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to this blog and not to Facebook. Please note that Do Try This at Home is not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. I will contact the sponsor regarding your prize. The sponsor is shipping the item to you directly. I will make every effort to assist you obtaining your prize. If there is an issue, please notify me within 4-6 weeks for assistance.  After that I may be unable to assist you.

You Know You're a Grown Up When Thanksgiving Means...

Actually, I don't really know what it means to be a grownup on Thanksgiving.  I just know that when I was in my 20's, I thought I had to have certain foods or do certain things.  Otherwise, it just wasn't Thanksgiving.  Now that I'm in my 40's, if I hear Alice's Restaurant and maybe have a slice of dead bird, I'm pretty happy.

But, if the meaning of Thanksgiving is bringing your Jewish Mexican American daughter to a Hindu temple to take pictures for her college photography class and buying a bunch of exotic snacks in the gift shop there, then coming home to care for a sick, miserable, feverish toddler who STILL manages to give heart attacks and wreak havoc, meanwhile making dinner rolls in an under-renovation kitchen while trying to sequester a non-littlerbox-using-cat, I definitely have this whole Thanksgiving thing sewn up.

Meanwhile, I promised that YOU would be the first to know when and if I ever did a sponsored post, so here's the exciting news: I'm going to do a sponsored post!!!!!!!  And my that I mean that my new friend Nicole from Organic Sunshine sent me some of her "It's The Balm" products to review!

They've already passed my all important "I have to be able to pronounce all the ingredients" test!!!!  AND Nicole is going to be getting together a giveaway JUST for people that hang out with me!!!!  So stick with me if you want to know more!

One of these days I'll also be posting a recipe for homemade tortillas, but I couldn't pass up giving a sneak peek.  Because who doesn't love a picture of a toddler using a tortilla as a toy?

Have a great Turkey Day folks!