Kellogg's Love Your Cereal Mom's Breakfast Club- Week 8

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Ah, the weekend.

Even though you still (usually) eat breakfast, the routine can be very different that the weekdays.

For us, there are phases where we don't have the same schedule twice.

Certain times of the year, some of us need to be up and out of the house by 6am on Saturday with sports, etc., while others of us may not need to be anywhere at all.

Therefore, unless it's a holiday or something, we usually have no set breakfast time. As a matter of fact, breakfast shifts can go on for hours on weekend mornings. Unfortunately, that sometimes results in the meals for the day getting really off schedule.

Dinner at 9, anyone?

(Yeah, we have to work on that, sometimes. But, hey, this is about breakfast, right?)

All of my kids, even the youngest, can fix (notice I said "can fix", and not "do fix", but,that's another story)their own breakfasts, so it's important to have something easy to prepare and that they like.

We keep several different kinds of cereal around, so that everyone can get something when they want it, and those that have to get up and out of the house can eat quickly, or even take it with them.

Yes, our weekend mornings can be wild, but I wouldn't trade them for anything.

OK, OK, I might trade one for some sleep, but you get my drift. Either way, though, I know everyone will have a decent breakfast on the weekend, even if it's at 5 different times.

Cereal can be a convenient and affordable part of a balanced, nutritious breakfast. Want to know more? Check out Kellogg's Love Your Cereal.

The contest

Enter for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card (that would buy a lot of cereal)

To enter, leave a comment below and tell us about your weekend breakfast routine.

Contest ends 5pm PST October 4, 2010.

Rules:

* No duplicate comments.
* You may receive one (1)additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link to your tweet in the comments OR by blogging about the sweepstakes and leaving a link to your post in the comments.
* This giveaway is open to US-Residents aged 18 and older
* Winner will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
* You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Official rules

Be sure to check out the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page for 24 other chances to win a $100 Visa Gift Card and be sure to come back here each week, I'm doing a giveaway for the next 5 weeks.

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.

Kellogg's Love Your Cereal Mom's Breakfast Club- Week 7

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

Now that we know each other a little better over here, I feel like I can tell you: I'm not always a good breakfast eater.

Part of it is that I usually don't get hungry until around 9:30 or 10:00 am. I've always been like that, even as a kid. So, sometimes it's hard for me to get enthused about getting breakfast on the table on hectic school mornings.

But, make no mistake, even with teenagers, we always serve breakfast, and my kids eat it, though I think the youngest has inherited my penchant for late breakfast. Besides being the right thing to do nutrition-wise, it's just part of our routine, and sticking with one routine helps the day go more smoothly.

We also quickly review the calendar before everyone leaves for the day. It's helpful to visualize what the day will bring, and it (usually) keeps us from forgetting to pick up a kid, since getting left at school doesn't exactly help the day have a positive spin.

As we've talked about before, one of the most important things for us to start the day on a positive note is to make sure everyone is ready for school the night before. If we're organized, and on time, everyone leaves the house in a better mood, and that sets the tone for the day. Since cereal is quick and easy to serve, it often plays a big part in our ability to get out of the house on time.

Cereal can be a convenient and affordable part of a balanced, nutritious breakfast. Want to know more? Check out Kellogg's Love Your Cereal.

The contest

Enter for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card (that would buy a lot of cereal)

To enter, leave a comment below and tell us how you make sure the day starts off on a positive note.

Contest ends 5pm PST September 27, 2010.

Rules:

* No duplicate comments.
* You may receive one (1)additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link to your tweet in the comments OR by blogging about the sweepstakes and leaving a link to your post in the comments.
* This giveaway is open to US-Residents aged 18 and older
* Winner will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
* You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Official rules

Be sure to check out the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page for 24 other chances to win a $100 Visa Gift Card and be sure to come back here each week, I'm doing a giveaway for the next 6 weeks.

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.

Kellogg's Love Your Cereal Mom's Breakfast Club- Week 6

This is sponsored content by BlogHer and Kelloggs.

It's Back to School time for many of us as summer draws to a close. However, we've been in school for about a month here, so we're sort of back in the swing of things. Though it's never easy, there are a few things I try to do to help get back in the school routine.

Every year I say I'm going to try to make the kids go to bed earlier at the end of the summer, so that the school routine won't be such a shock, but somehow it never works out that way. However, I hear it's a good thing to do.

I try to purchase and label all their school supplies in plenty of time before school starts so that we're not up and crazy the night before the first day.

I also force myself to get in the habit of getting(or remind people to do so) backpacks packed and lunches made the night before, because I always regret it when I don't. (Heh, right after I typed that, I realized I never put the drink money in my youngest's backpack tonight)

I also make an effort to do a "big" grocery shop in preparation for back to school so that we have what we need on hand for meals, especially breakfast, so we don't have to make late night runs to the store. We can never have too much cereal or waffles around these parts.

Cereal can be a convenient and affordable part of a balanced, nutritious breakfast. Want to know more? Check out Kellogg's Love Your Cereal.

The contest

Enter for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card (that would buy a lot of cereal)

To enter, leave a comment below and tell us how you get back in the school routine after a lazy summer.

Contest ends 5pm PST September 20, 2010.

Rules:

* No duplicate comments.
* You may receive one (1)additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link to your tweet in the comments OR by blogging about the sweepstakes and leaving a link to your post in the comments.
* This giveaway is open to US-Residents aged 18 and older
* Winner will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
* You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Official rules

Be sure to check out the BlogHer.com Kellogg exclusive offers page for 24 other chances to win a $100 Visa Gift Card and be sure to come back here each week, I'm doing a giveaway for the next 7 weeks.

Mom’s Breakfast Club was started to help educate moms and families about kids’ cereal and share the scoop on their nutritional benefits and ingredients. To learn more about the program, visit www.loveyourcereal.com.

No Ordinary Family

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and ABC's No Ordinary Family.

What if your family had super powers? You'd be the talk of the neighborhood, that's for sure.

I've often thought of that since the popularity of the movie The Incredibles, as our family is the same configuration as theirs (Dad, Mom, Older daughter and son, young son).

In ABC's new sci-fi drama, (has sound) No Ordinary Family, the Powell family is stuck in a rut with one another. When they decide to go on vacation, each family member emerges from a plane crash with a super power: super speed, super strength, mental telepathy and super intelligence.



Though my family is already extraordinary, my kids are polite and kind, and my husband works hard and is a great father, it might be interesting to kick it up a notch.

If I had super speed like Stephanie Powell from the show, there's no telling what I'd be able to accomplish. I'd like to say I'd do something noble with that power, you know, work at 3 charities simultaneously, or something.

But, truth is?

That talent would probably be used to capacity just to keep up with the laundry and make dinner. Just think, I could fold clothes AND put them away! The kids could have dinner every night! Kidding. Mostly.

I suppose it might also come in handy for those days that all the kids have different activities in different places, I could get to each place on time. However, once word got out, everyone would be asking me to give their kids "rides", too, and I just know the extra weight would slow me down.

I wonder if super speed would qualify me for a 1 day work week?

What would you and your family do with super powers like the Powell's?

Be sure to catch the ABC Red Carpet Premier of No Ordinary Family on Tuesday, September 28, 2010!

Don't forget to check out the No Ordinary Family Facebook page for on-going updates, plus behind-the-scenes information, and visit the BlogHer.com special offers page to see what the other reviewers would do with their super powers!

Weird Fitness Crazes - Win a $150 Visa Gift Card from The Laughing Cow

This is sponsored content from BlogHer and The Laughing Cow.

People do some strange things in their quests for health. From vibrating belts that "shake off fat", to the Thigh Master, it seems that people will try most anything to get fit.

I confess to having used a popular meal replacement shake when they first came out. I actually like them, so in the beginning, I did great. However, as time went on, the shakes became a tasty drink with my full meals.

Meal replacement: ur doin' it wrong.

I can't recall doing anything too weird in the exercise department, but I know people who are just a step away from the Shake Weight or the Ab Roller, as there may or may not be an As Seen on TV epidemic out there.

Wait, I did get a little out of hand with the exercise one time in high school. I biked really far one day, boy, was I going to be fit! I didn't, however, account for needing to get back to where I started, and I had to call my dad to come get me.

Have you tried any funny or crazy "miracle health solutions" in your quest for fitness?

Share a funny story (about a health craze or anything!)in the comment section, tweet or blog about this entry (be sure to leave a link to your efforts in the comments below), and you will be entered to win a $150 Visa gift card.

Two (2) valid entries per person, please.

Please keep your comments G-rated as any profanity or offensive content will automatically disqualify you from sweepstakes entry.

Don't forget to check out the The Laughing Cow Daily Laugh at BlogHer for more chances to win.

Sweepstakes ends 10/10/2010. Find out more from the official contest rules.