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  How did I manage to get so behind?  Zack’s birthday was in April, his party was in May, and I am just now getting this post written!  I feel like I have not stopped since Christmas!  Just when I think I am getting caught up, the UPS, FedEx, DHL, and Mail all arrive at the same time 3 days in a row.

Anyway, thanks to My Blog Spark, I was able to review Betty Crocker Cake Mix and Icing for Zack’s birthday party!  They also sent me a Flip Cam (which is why I have been able to do all the video reviews) and gift card to help me make his party super special.  Zack chose Cars by Disney and with the help of the Betty Crocker website, I was able to make it a super special party. 

BettyCrocker.com has all your party-planning needs, including instructional videos, shopping lists, party activities and games, and even invitations that can be printed from your home computer!

Thanks to their party planning page, we were able to come up with tons of party ideas with just a couple clicks!

View Full Album

We had a blast, we took videos that we will cherish for years, I took a million pictures, and the cake and cupcakes were FABULOUS!

One of my very lucky readers will win a Betty Crocker “Bake Life Sweeter” prize pack that includes coupons for cake mixes and frosting as well as all the baking tools you will need to create any cake you want!

To WIN:  Visit the Betty Crocker website, look around, then come back and leave a comment saying which Betty Crocker cake you would like to try!

BONUS #1:  Follow Betty Crocker on Twitter then retweet this contest.  The easiest way is to simply click the green RT button at the top of this post.

BONUS #2:  Like Betty Crocker on FaceBook

Other bonus entries:

#1. Spread the word about this review by: email, forums, blogging, twitter, Digg, or putting the link in a meme. (one entry per thing done)

#2. Follow my blog.

#3. Subscribe to my RSS feed.

#4. Follow me on Twitter

#5. Fan Me on FaceBook

#6. Put my button on your blog.

#7. Leave a comment on any other post (excluding giveaways!) Be sure to leave a comment here saying which post.

CONTEST ENDS: August 10th at midnight CST

OPEN TO: USA and CANADA

DISCLAIMER:  The information, gift card, flip video camera and giveaway have all been provided by Betty Crocker through MyBlogSpark.  Any opinions stated are strictly my own.

I am always super busy, as are many families today.  We have sports, work, hobbies, music, doctor visits, etc.  It seems everyone is always going in different directions and it is HARD to eat dinner together.

Barilla, like many widely-recognized food brands, is trying to get families back to the dinner table.  They have started the Share The Table program to help families make meal times more meaningful.

I LOVE the Share the Table site!  It has many things you can do to help meal planning easier and more fun:

• Sweepstakes – If you join the site, you could win Barilla Pasta Fridays pasta and pasta sauce
• Contests – The Mealtime Moments Contest allows families that commit to making mealtimes great a chance to win prizes through the summer like a month’s worth of groceries!
• Donations – For every person that becomes a fan of Meaningful Meals at Share The Table, Barilla will donate 1 dollar to Meals on Wheels.
• Meal Planning – The dinner calendar makes it easy to meal plan and when you are ready you can print a shopping list directly from the site! They even have pre-made menu plans!
• Recipes – With many meal options like Healthy, Kid Friendly, Make Ahead, and Vegetarian, you should have no problem finding something you like.  Find a recipe you want to try and save it to your very own recipe box!

To help our family “Share The Table,”  we were sent a wonderful package full of all the things we needed to create a meal for the family.    We love pastas and are partial to tomato based ones.  We make spaghetti, girl scout stew, Taco Bake, Crock Pot Pizza, and love trying new things.  For this review, I tried the Three Layer Lasagna.  Can you say, “YUM!”

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Barilla and received products necessary to facilitate my review..”

First think of all the things that come to you each day:

1. Mail: FedEx, USPS, UPS, DHL, etc
2. Email
3. FaceBook
4. Twitter
5. Phone Calls
6. Text Messages
7. RSS readers
8. Conversations with family members

How do you handle all of the incoming stuff and all the tasks that this stuff generates?

Imagine this: I had just returned home from the WeBlog Conference to over a dozen packages, hundreds of new FaceBook and Twitter followers, and over 1,000 emails to sift through.  Plus, I had several pages of things that needed doing post-conference!

So, how did I handle it?

• Step One: I got overly stressed over the amount of work needed doing.
• Step Two: I decided to simplify it and write a post on what I did. LOL!
• Step Three: I grabbed my brand new timer and set it for 10 minutes.  With a notebook and my new favorite pen, I began free-writing or brain dumping all the tasks that popped into my head.
• Step Four: I set my timer for another 10 minutes, organized my Outlook Inbox by sender instead of my date and began bulk deleting anything I deemed unimportant, junk mail, ads, or newsletters.  That took one inbox from 241 emails down to 91!  I feel better already!

Ways to Handle Your email Inbox:

• • The Inbox Makeover
  • The Trusted Trio
• Step Five: With that inbox still by sender, I went through my new Twitter follows to see who I wanted to follow back and my new FaceBook request to approve or ignore them. (approximately another 10 minutes)
• Step Six: Again, I set my timer – but this time for 15 minutes.  I spent 15 minutes working on a post.  Since I had a few in my drafts folder, I was actually able to complete one and post it in that time frame.
• Step Seven: Another 15 minutes found me handling and responding to the 91 emails still in my first folder.

An hour down and I have just about handled every email in 1 inbox and posted one post!  I completed this process the entire day and ended up getting all emails handled and about 6 posts scheduled!  Now, I am caught up on blogging and ahead on posts!  This is a great way to catch up the overflow to get your life back on track!

Note:  this concept can be used for housework, too!  Timers and breaking tasks into smaller tasks can really help with procrastination!

This post is linked up to Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family.

I seriously have to stop going out of town!  I simply can not get caught up with my giveaways and winners and stay caught up if I am not home!   I left Thursday evening and just got back last night.  Today is all about trying to wade through my to do list and my inboxes! Step one: Close contests and contact giveaway winners. Check!

Blue Bunny Ice Cream #239

• 239 Donna B. // Jul 19, 2010 at 6:03 amDugg
  Donna B.´s last blog ..simplydab: Enter to win a Zuvo Water Filtration System ($299.99 Value!!!) #GIVEAWAY @middayescapadeshttp://bit.ly/avVwcb (6/6) Pls RT

Full Circle #142

• 142 Gianna // Jul 22, 2010 at 12:04 amTidy
  Dish Cloths

Scharffen Berger Chocolate – 35

• 35 Anne Taylor // Jul 10, 2010 at 9:46 pmThis site makes my mouth water!!!! lolI’d love to try the Chocolate Variety 12-Pack (4 Semisweet, 4 Bittersweet and 4 Extra Dark), 2.1 oz…..how perfect!

  ty

  nancyrobster at gmail dot com

Plus, the Rubbermaid giveaway is ending tonight and I have a couple more giveaways running!  Be sure to check the tab for current ones!

Winners have been emailed and must respond within 48 hours or I will draw new ones.  Congrats!

I don’t normally post articles that PR folks send me for reprint, but this came at a time that I really needed to read it.  So, I couldn’t resist sharing it with my readers. ~Kelli

Celebrate Parent’s Day!
The most joyful and frustrating job in the world
by Gary M. Unruh

What do we value most in life: moment-to-moment enjoyment or the longer-term rewards and pleasure of a meaningful undertaking? Of course, we value the meaningful undertaking, and that’s what we signed up for with parenting-the most joyful and frustrating job in the world.

Parenting is immeasurably rewarding over time, but from a moment-to-moment perspective, it’s often more frustrating than happy.  The every-once-in-awhile experiences of “I love you, Mom,” the glow of accomplishments, fun times together…well, that’s joy of the highest order.
After watching all of this played out in front of me through the lives of over 2,500 kids and families for the last forty years, I’ve got one thing to say on Parents’ Day (7/25/10):

Thank you, thank you, parents, for continually working to unleash your love and putting up with the daily frustration.
It’s hard to describe what it’s like to see this unconditional love being transformed into a kid’s feeling lovable.

Warren Buffett said it all recently: There is no power on earth like unconditional love. And I think that if you offered that to your child….you’re 90 percent of the way home (July 7, 2010 Huffington Post).
As a way to celebrate your parenthood, here are four tips that will make your day-to-day parenting a little less frustrating:

• Work toward your kid feeling understood and accepted (unconditional love) — “I’m lovable” — even during discipline. Video games, vacations, and soccer are great, but your kid feeling accepted and understood, that’s the keeper.
• Agree on parenting approaches with your spouse. (Forty percent of parents’ arguments are about kids.)
• Take adequate time for yourself and your spouse. (It’s good for your kids to witness.)
• Don’t compare your parenting or your kid to others. Loving your kid unconditionally 65 percent of the time is plenty good, at least a B.  Besides, you and your kid are different from everyone else. Kids are forgiving, especially if they feel accepted and understood no matter what.

Okay, parents, celebrate this day. You deserve it. As you increasingly show unconditional acceptance and understanding to your kid (and be kind to yourself), you can know without a doubt, I’m giving my kid the most powerful gift-love. I’m doing a good job.

Note: Parent’s Day is the 4th Sunday of every July. This year, Parent’s Day is July 25th. Read more at www.parentsday.com.

Gary M. Unruh, MSW LCSW, is a child and family mental health counselor with nearly forty years of experience. He is the author of Unleashing the Power of Parental Love: 4 Steps to Raising Joyful and Self-Confident Kids (www.unleashingparentallove.com).