Mommin' It Up!

August 16, 2010August 23, 2010

Back 2 School Bash – Win $100 AmEx Gift Card from Invisalign Teen

Welcome to our Back 2 School Giveaway Bash! Emily and I are so excited to bring you several great giveaways a DAY this week to help you get your family ready for back to school! The first giveaway of the day is a $100 AmEx gift card from Invisalign Teen! That’s right, you can win a $100 AmEx gift card to to that back to school shopping with!

If you’re not familiar with Invisalign Teen, let me tell you a bit about it. It is the “Clear” alternative to braces – as in, Invisalign Teen corrects your teen’s teeth without metal and wire! My beautiful 16-year-old babysitter Krisha wears Invisalign Teen and you can hardly tell she’s got them on.

Since most teens and tweens are image-conscious before starting a new school year, now is the perfect time to look into Invisalign Teen for them. Invisalign Teen costs about the same as metal braces, and the aligners are removable and don’t interfere with sports activities or regular dental hygiene! No forbidden foods for your teen and no worry about broken brackets and wires to deal with.

For more info about this great teeth-straightening product for your child, check out Invisalign Teen’s Facebook and website or follow them on Twitter @invisalign!

Here’s how to enter to win a $100 AmEx gift card from Invisalign Teen:

1) Leave a comment on this blog post

2) For an extra entry tweet about this contest on twitter with a link back to this post, then leave a separate comment with your tweet URL. You can copy and paste this if you wish: “Enter to win a $100 Amex card from @invisalign & @momminitup and @jennyitup! http://bit.ly/aXDxbQ #wingiveaways”

3) Post on Facebook about Mommin’ It Up – like our page if you haven’t already and then leave a separate comment letting us know you did so.

4) Subscribe to our blog feed and leave us a comment letting us know you did or already do.

You can enter to win a $100 AmEx gift card from Invisalign Teen from ALL ELEVEN of our Back 2 School Giveaway bash blog partners! So after you enter here, go enter at our partner’s blogs:

Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Bargain Briana
Common Sense With Money
Coupon Cravings
Moms Need to Know
Mommy Snacks
Passion for Savings
Saving Cents with Sense
Southern Savers
Stretching a Buck

Good luck!

This and all giveaways for this promotion end Monday, August 23rd at 3 pm.

This giveaway was sponsored by Invisalign Teen as part of Win Giveaways Back to School Bash. This Post was written by me and was not edited by the sponsor. Read more on our disclosure policy. Find more information on the terms for this giveaway on the Win Giveaways Facebook page.

August 15, 2010

Every Sabbath needs a drugstore run!

It’s just not a successful Sunday for me without a good drugstore run! I hope that’s not blasphemous (yes I DID go to church BEFORE I went to the store…this time) but it’s so much easier for me to do my big plan transactions when Bobby is home with the kids! So I went joyfully and kidlessly to Rite Aid and CVS today. Here’s what I got! It was a high out-of-pocket day for me but I got plenty back to make it worth it – plus, I just needed some stuff!

Rite Aid:

Charmin $6.49

Two Lays’ Chips $6

Two Oral B CrossAction Pro Health toothbrushes $2.99 each = $5.98

Complete Contact solution $7.99

Pentech Erasers $.29

Two pocket folders 50 cents each = $1

Crayola markers $5.29 (OUCH!!! I could not believe the price. But oh well, it all came out all right.)

Crayola crayons $.99

Total = $34.03

coupons:

-$5/$25 Rite Aid Video Values printable

-$.25 Charmin from recent P&G insert

-$2.99 BOGO free Oral B toothbrush from today’s Red Plum

-$.75 Oral B from recent P&G insert

-$1 Complete solution from today’s Red Plum

-$2 +UP Rewards from last week

new total =$22.04 I still had a few dollars left on my Rite Aid gift card from June’s rebates, so I used that and then piad $19.31 including tax. I got back 5 +UP rewards and will get back a $7.99 rebate for the contact solution and $1 for the Crayola. So, about $14 back on a $19 purchase – not too bad, especially since we really needed the toilet paper and school supplies!

Then, it was on to CVS. I had ZERO ECBs, having blown the few I got last week, so I had to start from scratch. Happily, I got a $5/$25 purchase in my email this week so that helped.

Purex laundry sheets $5.99 (for my BFF Luanne, she loves these!)

Gillette Fusion ProGlide $9.99

Crest ProHealth Clinical toothpaste $3.49

Blink eye drops $7.99 (I love these!)

Clorox toilet wand refills clearance $2.99

total= $26.96

coupons:

-$5/25 CVS email coupon

-$3 Purex from today’s inserts

-$4 Gillette razor from recent P&G

-$.75 Crest from recent P&G

-$1.50 Blink from today’s Red Plum

total =$16.70 + $2.14 tax = $18.84 and I got back 18.49 in ECBs – 3 for the Purex, 2.50 for the Cret, 7.99 for the eye drops, 4 for the razor and 1 for using my CVS green bag tag 4x. So, I almost broke even on that transaction! I was pretty pleased and now I have lots of ECBs for next week!

I really enjoyed my Sunday shopping this week – what did YOU get??

August 14, 2010

Review: Otterbox Defender Series iPad Case

I am in love with my new iPad. It is pretty awesome.

Unfortunately, Kate is also in love with my new iPad. And she is just about as graceful and coordinated as her mom. Which means my iPad was in serious peril.

That is, until I received the Otterbox iPad Defender case.

Here’s what the Otterbox website has to say about the features of the case:
# Three layers of protection
# Complete interaction of the iPad’s functions
# Built-in stand for viewing convenience
# Bottom silicone grip pads keep your iPad in place
# Silicone plugs provide coverage for all ports
# Snap-off access for optional iPad dock

Here’s what I have to say about it:
Getting the iPad in the case wasn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I am sure it’s user failure, but I couldn’t make heads or tails out of the directions. And once I did get the thing in, I realized I should have put the screen protector on before putting the case on. Oops. But once I got it on, I was immediately impressed with the feel of the case. It makes the iPad a little heavier and a little thicker, but it’s very clear that the case will do what it’s designed to do – protect the ridiculously expensive piece of equipment inside of it.

The case, while providing protection and cushioning from the drops that are bound to happen – doesn’t inhibit the iPad’s function at all. It has spaces that line up perfectly with all the iPad’s little buttons and switches, and everything works just as it should.

I also like the removable face plate – you can snap it on and off to cover the iPad’s screen. I don’t use the cover every day, but when I through my iPad in a bag or my purse, I love being able to protect the screen.

Overall, I am very pleased with the Defender Series case. It makes me feel much more comfortable with allowing my kids to use my iPad, which is great because I can’t pick up the thing without Kate saying “Can I play???” (and no, I’m not bitter about that, not one bit), and frankly, it makes me much more comfortable using it myself! At $89.95, it’s not the cheapest case you’re going to find, but after dropping $600+ on the iPad itself, what’s an extra few bucks? It’s more than worth it to keep your iPad safe.

I give the Otterbox Defender Series iPad case two thumbs up!