Giveaway

When Sick Gets Real

As a parent, there’s not much worse than looking at your child feeling miserable.

We’ve been really thankful that our kids rarely get sick – but when they do, we want to do anything we can to help them feel better. When we feel like Sick Just Got Real™, we head to Target and stock up on medicine, like:

Infants’ and Children’s Advil® provide unsurpassed fever and pain relief(1) , and contain ibuprofen, the medicine pediatricians use most for their own kids’ fevers(2) (for ages 6 months -11 years)
Children’s Robitussin® provides soothing action and cough control with some formulations lasting up to 8 hours (for ages 6-12 years)
Children’s Dimetapp® provides great-tasting cold-fighting power and is the #1 pharmacist recommended brand for children’s cough & cold symptoms(3) (for ages 6+)

If the kids are battling a cold, we let them sleep in our room; we make a comfy bed on the floor with plenty of pillows to prop them up; I run a humidifier in our room and also have the kids spend time in steam by running the shower hot. I also set alarms on my phone to get up periodically through the night and check temperature.

What do you do to make your kids more comfortable when they’re sick? Well, you can start by having Pfizer products on hand! I’m giving away a Pfizer prize pack, and it’s super easy to enter for a chance to win!
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¹ Among OTC pain relievers.

² Based on a survey of doctors.

³ Source: 2015-16 Pharmacy Times and U.S. News & World Report.

AfterShokz Bluez2S Headphone Giveaway {ARV $99.95}

If you’ve ever been out running or biking on a busy highway, you know how important it is to be aware of sounds – like approaching vehicles – around you. And if you’ve ever gone to the gym with a workout buddy, you’ve probably experienced the frustration of wanting to listen to music to motivate your workout while still being able to chat with your friend.

AfterShokz headphones are an innovative bone conduction headphone that don’t go in – or even ON – your ears. These Bluetooth headphones have bone conduction transducers that rest comfortably in front of the ears, transmitting sound through the cheekbones to the inner ears via mini vibrations, bypassing the eardrums completely. This means your ears are actually open so you can hear other sounds around you at the same time. You can listen to music, other audio, or make & take phone calls all while retaining ambient sound awareness.

The Bluez 2S headphones from AfterShokz have some enhanced features, including:

Premium open ear audio experience
PremiumPitch+™ is proprietary audio technology that assures the finest in bone conduction audio. PremiumPitch+™ delivers a balance of crisp detail and discernible bass, with two EQ presets to enhance music further.
The secret to clearer phone calls is the precisely placed dual noise canceling microphones that exclude surrounding noise, effectively enhancing speech.
Finally, battling the single most frustrating drawback of bone conduction—natural sound leakage—is LeakSlayer™, an innovation that works to release sound generated by the transducers in order to cancel sound generated by the housing. Even at high volume, music and conversations are confined to the wearer.
Increased sweat resistance — IP55 certified
Bluez 2S are IP55 rated to ensure they’ll power through daily sweat sessions and wicked weather. An extra layer of protective housing was added to make sure sweat and moisture won’t damage electronics inside.
Improved controls
Controlling music and call features right from the headset has been a fan favorite, as it allows devices to remain safely tucked away during activity. A raised power button and larger volume button delivers a friendlier user experience.

The Bluez 2S headphones from AfterShokz are available for pre-order and will begin shipping to retail partners and consumers October 15, but you can have a chance to try them out before anyone else! Just enter my giveaway below and you’ll have the chance to win one Bluez 2S unit valued at $99.95 – and you can even choose the color, picking from black, red, green metallic and neon green.

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50% off Plans at Sprint – Plus a Giveaway for TWO Smartphones!

I participated in an Ambassador Program on behalf of Influence Central for Sprint. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

I’ve really loved being a #SprintMom ambassador this year; I’ve learned a lot about the great devices and services they offer, and have gained even more appreciation for the company. Their latest news, though, has me really impressed!

In celebration of the launch of its new LTE Plus network, Sprint is introducing the biggest wireless offer in U.S. history – 50 percent off the price of most Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile rate plans. This is a great opportunity to try the Sprint network that’s performing better than ever. I love finding good deals, and 50% off a cell phone plan is seriously amazing. This offer is available through January 7, 2016 so don’t miss out! This would be a great gift for a pre-teen or teenager who you’re wanting to get a phone for anyway!

If you decide to take advantage of this and become a new Sprint customer, you can get your new device through Sprint Lease, iPhone Forever, installment billing, or by paying full retail price. You’ll get the 50% off rate until January 2018.

To continue the celebrating, I’m thrilled to be hosting a giveaway for not one, but TWO smart phones from Sprint – that means two of you will each win a great new Sprint phone!

Spreading More Cheer with Betty Crocker! {$20 Visa Gift Card Giveaway}

If you saw my post the other day, you learned about a fun way to spread cheer to friends and neighbors – Betty Crocker’s #SpreadCheer printables are a great motivator to do something simple and sweet that will really make a difference in somebody’s day. We made our cookies on a school night – it’s that easy! We used the Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix and rolled the dough in Christmas-colored sprinkles before baking, then packaged them up cute and left them on our neighbor’s doorstep with instructions on how they could keep the chain going by sending cookies to someone they care about!

There’s a giveaway in that post for a $20 Target gift card; and guess what? I’m getting to spread even more cheer with another giveaway! This time I’m giving away a $20 Visa gift card so you can get everything you need to make some cookies and package them up to share with your friends and neighbors.

It’s super easy to enter! Here’s how:

You can do one of the following social media shares, and then comment on this post with the link to your share:

Post the following message on your Facebook page, making sure that it’s set to public, and that you’re tagging @Frugal Novice and @Betty Crocker:
“I learned about a great way to #SpreadCheer from Frugal Novice and Betty Crocker! http://frugalnovice.com/2015/12/spread-cheer-with-betty-crocker-this-christmas/”
Tweet this message:
“Try this great way to #SpreadCheer from @FrugalNovice and @BettyCrocker! http://frugalnovice.com/2015/12/spread-cheer-with-betty-crocker-this-christmas/ #cookies #gifts #Christmas #holidays“
Post my sprinkle cookie picture (found at http://instagram.com/FrugalNovice) on Instagram, with this text:
“I learned about a great way to #SpreadCheer from @FrugalNovice and @BettyCrocker! Find out more on the Frugal Novice blog (link in their profile). #cookies #cheer #Christmas #holidays #baking”

Entries will be accepted until 11:59 pm Central on December 28, 2015.

Full Home, Happy Home with Sam’s Club {Giveaway!}

We’re pretty excited that Christmas is right around the corner. Well, I’m pretty excited. My kids are absolutely thrilled and are convinced time isn’t moving quickly enough to propel us to December 24.

As a parent, though, I’m thinking about all that needs to be done between now and then. I’m not nearly far enough along with gift shopping, I have cleaning I should really get done for company that’s coming, and of course I need to stay on top of all the essentials we need around the house.

Sam’s Club is a really great solution for us in this most busy time of year; I can get both what we need and what our friends and family want for Christmas.

Win the Sickest Day Ever with Advil®

The Advil® Sinus Congestion & Pain product, information and gift have been provided by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare.

We’ve all had a sick day. In fact, Brian and I both are just now getting over colds, and it is not fun! We had just received our gift pack from Advil® and it couldn’t have been better timing. Advil® Sinus Congestion & Pain provides fast, powerful relief for a number of severe cold, flu, and sinus symptoms, and it’s a lifesaver to have on hand when you’re sick.

Advil® Sinus Congestion & Pain is the only over-the-counter cold and sinus medicine that combines the speed and strength of Advil® with a proven nasal decongestant for fast, effective relief of severe cold symptoms including sinus pressure and headache. It contains Phenylephrine, a nasal decongestant which reduces swelling and allows the nasal and sinus airways to expand to their natural state for easier breathing, and ibuprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that has been repeatedly proven to reduce pain safely and effectively when taken as directed.

While we’ve all had sick days, Advil® wants to help three lucky winners have the sickest day ever (in the best possible way)! Just enter a video of yourself reciting the Sickest Day Ever tongue twister and upload it to their sweepstakes page. The tongue twister is:

“Six of my sickest sinus symptoms solved with the speed and strength of Advil® in Advil® Sinus Congestion & Pain for a chance to win the Sickest Day”

Purina’s Waggin’ Train Dog Treats are a Hit! {Giveaway}

This post is part of a compensated campaign with Purina, who is also providing the prizes for giveaway. All opinions are honest and are my own.

If you saw some of my posts last week, you know that our dogs are a big part of our family; we had fun celebrating them for National Dog Week, but that doesn’t have to end just because the week is over! We want to keep letting our dogs know we love them with plenty of attention, plenty of petting, plenty of play, and plenty of treats!

If you don’t remember, we have two pups in our family:

Sally is 4, and is an 80-pound labrador/golden retriever mix. She is a mouth breather, so you always know when she’s nearby… and she loves to be near us so we almost always hear her panting. :) She is incredibly sweet and she thinks she’s a lap dog.

Ninja just turned 1 in April, and he’s a yorkie/schnauzer mix. He is only about 12 pounds, and I’m betting 2 pounds of that is fur – he’s our little mop! He also likes to be right where we are all the time, unless he’s wrestling with Sally (because while she thinks she’s a lap dog, he clearly thinks he’s an 80-pound lab).

While our dogs couldn’t look any more different from one another, they’re the best of friends (I guess opposites attract?) and they play together all the time. It really is as if he’s the little brother who thinks his big sister is so cool and so he wants to be around her all the time. But since he’s the little brother, he has to also bug her and beg her to play with him.

One thing the dogs definitely have in common is their love of the Purina Waggin’ Train Chicken Jerky treats. I pulled out the chicken jerky curls for them to try the other day, and Sally practically climbed up on to the dining table (which she doesn’t even do for PEANUT BUTTER, friends – that’s saying something!).

#NationalDogWeek Giveaway! #FriendsWithBeneful

This post is part of a compensated campaign with Purina. All opinions are honest and are my own.

I’m sure y’all have seen my other posts this week sharing a little about our dogs Sally & Ninja. National Dog Week is a great time for us to really appreciate how much they add to our family, and how much we love them!

Beneful is celebrating, too, and they sent us a really fun bag of goodies for the dogs. In addition to celebrating National Dog Week this year, the Beneful Dream Dog Park Project is supporting a wide variety of different dog park projects across the U.S. and help further the Beneful team’s mission of celebrating the joyful life dogs and owners share together. Beneful is supporting dog park projects large and small, and lending a paw to help make dog park dreams come true through a mix of financial support, hands-on volunteerism and dog park expertise. We have a dog park in our city, and it gets used SO much. I think it’s a great feature every city should have, and I love that Beneful is helping support the creation of more dog parks.

Sam’s Club Baby Days + a Giveaway!

This post is sponsored by Acorn & Procter and Gamble. All opinions are honest and my own.

My sister-in-law Lauren (might as well be sister) is pregnant with her first baby, and I am almost as excited for her as I was for my own pregnancies. I can’t wait to see her be a mom (she’ll be amazing) and I’m ready to hold my niece or nephew!

Lauren’s due in November, so as that time gets closer and closer, being stocked up on baby gear is more and more on her mind. I started thinking about what all I was glad to have on hand when each of my kids were babies, and wanted to help get her and my brother-in-law all set for their new arrival. I headed over to our local Sam’s Club, because I knew it’d be a great one-stop location to find all sorts of must-haves for babies at cost-efficient prices.

First of all: diapers and wipes. Parents, you know how rapidly you use these, so it’s crucial to have a sizeable stockpile! Sam’s has huge boxes, so I grabbed some Pampers Swaddlers and Sensitive Wipes for Lauren to have ready when she comes home from the hospital.

And if you noticed, I got instant savings on the diapers, making them an even better deal than they already were. And I got 808 wipes for less than $20. Gotta love bargains like that!

Snap an #UltraHug Selfie & Spread the Love with Walmart Huggies Snug & Dry

Summer is here, and my kids are thrilled. They’re looking forward to all sorts of fun, and we’ve already been enjoying evenings playing all together out in the yard. I have lots of great memories of summers during my childhood, and it makes me really happy to think of my kids having wonderful summer moments, too.

I do think, though, of kids for whom summer isn’t all great. There are some kids who rely on breakfasts and lunches at school, and when school is out these kids might very well go without food. No Kid Hungry Texas is a program that helps combat this issue, and it’s an organization I’m proud to support.

Huggies is hosting a great initiative right now, awarding 10 community organizations $2,000 each! All you have to do to nominate your community project is upload a selfie of you and your baby to Instagram and Twitter using the hashtag #UltraHug.

Little Mayz Hand-Made Dresses {Giveaway!}

Note: I received a dress from Little Mayz to review and they are providing the credit for giveaway. All opinions in this post are honest and are my own.

After having two boys, shopping for our daughter E has been an absolute blast. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done my fair share of shopping for all three of our kids, but shopping for girls’ clothing is just much more fun – there’s so much more to choose from!

I love finding unique items for E to wear, so Etsy has become my go-to for browsing and “window shopping.” I’ve gotten SO many headbands for her from various Etsy shops!

It only makes sense, then, that I’d want to start getting some adorable outfits from Etsy, too. A great shop I’ve discovered is called Little Mayz, owned by Tabitha Carden. Says Tabitha:

“My name is Tabitha, owner of Little Mayz (pronounced like mays). Little Mayz came about early in 2014, after I realized how amazingly fun it is to dress my daughter in the latest trends. Tenley Mayz, my 15 month old, is without a doubt the inspiration behind my creations. We reside in Nashville, TN. When I first began my clothing line, I was trying so hard to do as many different patterns as possible in hopes to please as many customers as possible. Now that we have been working a bit longer, I have found my niche and what works for us. If you like frills, fluff and ruffles, Little Mayz is the shop for you. We do simple pieces designed for everyday wear for your fashionista, and then we also specialize in over the top pieces meant for photo shoots, milestones and special events. No matter your taste, I am sure you will find something you love in our shop.”

I love Tabitha’s eye for mixing prints, and really almost selected this Christmas dress – isn’t it SO cute?

In the end, though, I loved the color of this mustard fall tunic dress, and once I saw the back I just couldn’t go with another dress.

I love the flutter sleeves! But just check out the back:

Be sure and keep up with Little Mayz on Pinterest | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter!

And you’ll definitely want to enter my giveaway for a $50 gift card to Little Mayz… the only question is, which dress would you buy first?

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Music Made Me Do It: What Has Music Made YOU Do? {Giveaway}

Note: I received two SOL Republic products to thank me for hosting the giveaway. I was not compensated monetarily for this post, and all opinions are honest and my own.

Music is an amazing thing. A song can lift you up, inspire, and motivate you. Last year I did Couch to 5K and music definitely helped carry me through some of the tough, long patches of running.

Music can also comfort you – my dad passed away last year and my mom has found great solace in praise songs. Music can remind you of great times or certain people.

I think we can all agree that music is an important part of our lives, and each of us probably have a story about how music has influenced us in one way or another.

SOL Republic recognizes the value of music and so they’ve come up with a really fun promotion called Music Made Me Do It.

And guess what? I get to host a giveaway to help celebrate it!

See all the items in the photo above? They could all be yours. Yours to keep and enjoy the power of music through, or yours to gift to friends and family. I think you’d be the most popular person on the block if you gave someone a speaker or headphones from SOL Republic. The prize pack is valued at over $700 and includes:

1 SOL REPUBLIC Deck speaker ($149.99)
1 SOL REPUBLIC Punk speaker ($69.99)
1 SOL REPUBLIC Tracks on-ear headphone ($99.99)
1 SOL REPUBLIC Relays in- ear headphone ($79.99)
1 SOL REPUBLIC Master Tracks over-ear headphone ($149.99)
1 Tracks HD on-ear headphone ($129.99)
1 Jax in-ear headphone ($39.99)

To enter, share your story of how music has inspired you – what has music made you do?

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