Wednesday, February 24, 2010

FAVORITE WEBSITE WEDNESDAY: Better in Bulk

Better in Bulk is a blog written by a stay-at-home mom with five children named "Lolli."  The tagline for the site is "Kids, photography, blogging and candy are all better in bulk."  I couldn't agree more!

Better in Bulk

In keeping with the bulk theme, Lolli refers to her family members on the blog by candy nicknames - Lolli  (short for Lollipop) is married to CandyMan, and they have three daughters  - KitKat, Necco and Reese - and two sons - Twizzler and AJ (short for Almond Joy).  She writes about motherhood, shares wonderful family recipes and hosts great giveaways.  But my favorite part of Better in Bulk is the terrific photography tutorials.

Bloggography at Better in Bulk

Bloggography is run by Lolli and Beth from Manic Mother, and together, they walk novice DSLR owners like me through everything from ISO and shutter speed to aperture and megapixels on both Canon and Nikon cameras.  And each week's lesson comes with a photo challenge where you can put your new knowledge to the test.  If you're anything like me and have been shooting blindly with your DSLR, check out the Bloggography tutorials.  I'm already seeing an improvement in my pictures after just a few lessons.  Guess photography is Better in Bulk!


Images: Better in Bulk

AND THE WINNER IS....

Congratulations ASHLEY!  You've won the Diaper & Wipes Case from Zanie Zoo!


Please e-mail me at afomft@gmail.com by end of day Friday, February 26th to claim your prize. If I do not hear from you by then, a new winner will be chosen.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Canada v Germany - Qualifier

Wow. After Brodeur allowed 4 goals in a mere 22 shots, I'm SUPER relieved to see Luongo will be in net tonight. There is no more room for error. This is it - win big or go home. But we all knew it would come to this.
“Everyone forgets that everyone’s in the same position,” Canada forward Sidney Crosby said. “Everyone has to win now.

DO IT.

GO TEAM CANADA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YOU TAKEOVER TUESDAY: Learning is Fun-damental {GIVEAWAY}

It's YOU TAKEOVER TUESDAY again and this week's question comes from Caitlyn in Waltham, Massachusetts.  She wrote: 

Dear AFOMFT, I have a one year old daughter, Stella, who's just starting to get invited to birthday parties for her playdate pals.  I know I could get them an outfit or something from Toys R Us but I'd rather give them a gift that's more unique, maybe even educational.  And not Melissa & Doug.  I love their stuff but we got so many of their toys for Stella's birthday that I'm hoping to find with something more original.  Does what I'm envisioning even exist? 

Yes, Caitlyn, it certainly does!  And guess what?  You can find lots of options that fit your criteria at Evgie.  Their Play to Learn toys are handmade and created with the goal of enhancing learning.  Like this felt Tic Tac Toe set:


Seems like a simple game, right?  Well, it also helps promote developmental logic. And this Rainbow Set will help your child learn about colors and shapes.


The ABC, 123 Bag is perfect for teaching toddlers the fundamentals:


And the Vegetable Alphabet Learning Set is great for older kids.  It comes with all of the letters they'll need to spell "potato" and "carrot" along with fun foods to inspire their creativity.


You can order the numbers and letters plain or embroidered so each set will be completely unique!


Evgie also has the cutest hand puppets around.  Meet Salvador:


And his sister, Mimi:


They're just $9 each and the perfect toys to help foster any child's imagination.

And did I mention that Evgie only uses eco-friendly felt made of 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles?  Just one more thing to love!

Caitlyn, I hope the Play to Learn toys and games from Evgie are the answer to your birthday present predicament.  And we've got a gift up our sleeve too.... 


Evgie has graciously offered to give away two keychain letters to a lucky AFOMFT reader!


To enter, visit Evgie and make the store one of your Etsy favorites, then post a comment here telling us that you did and which two letters you would choose if you win.  For additional entries:
  • Subscribe to AFOMFT or let us know you are a subscriber
  • Become a fan of AFOMFT on Facebook -- http://tinyurl.com/AFOMFTFBFAN
  • Become a fan of Evgie on Facebook -- http://www.facebook.com/evgie
  • Ask your friends to become a fan of AFOMFT on Facebook by sending them this link - http://tinyurl.com/AFOMFTFBFAN - and post a comment here with the names of each one who does.  You'll earn one entry per new friend who becomes a fan and names will be cross-checked. 
  • Follow AFOMFT and Evgie on Twitter (@AFOMFT & @Evgie) and tweet this post by clicking the graphic above or this giveaway:  Enter to win an adorable letter keychain from @Evgie at A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS @AFOMFT - http://tinyurl.com/AFOMFT
  • Click here to vote for AFOMFT on Top Baby Blogs and post a comment here that you did - Vote For Us @ topbabyblogs.com Top Baby Blogs.  You can vote once per day per computer so if you vote every day or on different computers, be sure to post one comment for each one.
  • Grab our button and put it on your blog or website and post a link here showing us.
  • Blog about AFOMFT or this giveaway (worth 2 entries) and post a link to the post.
Please leave a separate comment for each entry and make sure to include a link to your tweet, blog post, etc. This giveaway is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada and ends March 2nd at 11:59 pm EST. The winner will be selected by random.org and announced on AFOMFT on March 3rd. If the winner doesn't contact AFOMFT within 48 hours, a new drawing will be held so be sure to check back to see if you've won!

Images: Evgie

Monday, February 22, 2010

Team Canada v Team USA (L 3-5)

What an upset! I don't know about you guys, but I was truly stunned. Team Canada is a veritable who's who of the very best hockey players on this entire planet, but somehow (read: because of the goaltending at both ends), a youthful Team USA was able to pull off the improbable victory. American Ryan Miller was outstanding in goal, while Canadian Martin Brodeur did not even come close to performing to his best ability. I'm not sure what Head Coach Mike Babcock was thinking... Roberto Luongo was, prior to the Olympics, the best of the three Canadian goalies (sorry, Flower!). He should have been in between the pipes for this match-up. I was shocked when I saw that he wasn't.

Note to Sid: THIS is what it feels like when Brooksie is on the opposing team...

However, hindsight is always 20/20, and Team Canada still has some work to do. Here are some of the best photos from last night:
















Team Canada is back in action tomorrow in a Playoff Qualifier against Team Germany.

GO TEAM CANADA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got Opinions?

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I mentioned earlier this month that I'd have some big news for you and here it is - I'm re-launching AFOMFT in March with a new look and some terrific new features.  My goal is to make this blog even bigger and better than before but I can't do that without a little help from you.  I've put together a reader survey and would be so grateful if you could take a few minutes to fill it out.  You can find the survey HERE.

All of your responses will be completely anonymous so feel free to be completely honest.  Thanks in advance!



Sunday, February 21, 2010

2010 Olympic Showdown: Canada v USA

Get ready for an ice war.


On the bright side: whatever the outcome, at least one Penguin is guaranteed a victory tonight! But, since this is The Sidney Crosby Show...

GO TEAM CANADA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!