I am a sucker when it comes to collectible dolls. Add a bit of goth to the mix and I’m a goner. I wish when I was a kid there had been Monster High Dolls!

In honor of Draculaura’s “Sweet 1600,” the Monster High gang is getting a special edition set of dolls and accessories! The Monster High Sweet 1600 doll collection is dressed to impress for the party of a lifetime, and they’ve got a new friend to boot. In addition to Draculaura, Frankie Stein, Clawd Wolf, and Clawdeen Wolf getting the Sweet 1600 makeover, C.A. Cupid, has joined the ranks of the Monster High Catacombs. She’s daughter of Eros, and is specialized in the dealings of relationships, with a focus on teenagers, which comes in handy as she hosts a local radio show from the high school! I think she’s pretty much adorable – I love her skeleton wings and baby lips!

No ultimate birthday party would be complete without the ultimate present! Draculaura is one lucky ghoul with the newest Monster High accessory – The Monster High Sweet 1600 Roadster, a freaky, fabulous two-seat convertible in black and pink. Draculara will look fangtastic driving her new, sleek monster-mobile that comes complete with tires that move, a steering wheel that turns and a blinker control that allows Draculaura to switch lanes!

If the birthday celebration of a lifetime weren’t enough, Draculaura is facing the ultimate Valentine’s Day dilemma this weekend, too. Check out the new Monster High television special, “Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love?” on Nick this Sunday, February 12th at 1 pm! You can watch a preview here!

I’m pleased to be able to offer one of Monster High’s Sweet 1600 dolls to one lucky reader! To enter to win, you can do any or all of the following, but please leave a comment for each as it will count as your entry. Each method counts for one entry only, unless otherwise specified:

• Tell me who your favorite Monster High character is!
• Like Monster High on Facebook
• Follow me on Twitter
• Follow me on Google Friend Connect
• Enter another current giveaway on this site -or- leave a comment on a non-giveaway post. Let me know what you did in your comment.
• Share this giveaway on Facebook using the “Facebook” link below
• Tweet this giveaway (once daily is allowed) – you can simply copy and past the following if you would like, or use the twitter button below: I want to win a #MonsterHigh Sweet 1600 doll from @summerflood! You can enter, too: http://www.amomlessordinary.com/?p=4049 #giveaway

This giveaway will close on the evening of February 24th and a winner will be chosen at random using “And The Winner Is…” plug-in for WP. Winner will have 48 hours to confirm or a new winner will be chosen. The Monster High Sweet 1600 Doll winner receives is subject to manufacturer’s availability. Open to U.S. residents only.

 Product has been provided for giveaway only. For complete disclosure, click here.

We live in a dustbowl. I can’t even tell you how dirty this town is, and I mean literally, not figuratively. I’ve been sucking it up because we’re here for my husband’s schooling and I know we’ll get back to greener pastures eventually, but in the meantime I have a real hard time with my house getting dusty and dirty faster than I can clean it. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to find The Amazing Mat!

The Amazing Mat is a multi-layered indoor mat constructed with thin, clear, eco-friendly sheets. It uses the same powerful anti-bacterial adhesive as NASA and professional clean rooms where any stray particle of dirt and dust can destroy the germ-free environment. It is simple to use: when the top sheet gets dirty, just peel it away to reveal a new one underneath. The Amazing Mat consists of 30 recyclable sheets, which normally last for three months, depending on traffic.

Our garage faces out into an undeveloped area of land, which I call the “dirt field.” Because of that, our garage floor gets dust and dirt on it the minute we open it, which means we track all that into our home. I put The Amazing Mat in the doorway from the garage into our house and I can’t even believe what an eye-opening experience it has been! I knew we tracked dirt in the house from outside, but I didn’t know how bad it really was!

The Amazing Mat looks like a normal floor mat, but when it has a new sheet exposed on the top it looks shiny, which is fine with me, I like the fact that it looks nice and clean and I didn’t have to throw it in the wash! The bottom of the mat has a rubbery material that keeps the mat from shifting, just like a traditional floor mat would. The sheet itself is “sticky,” but not hindering. My youngest daughter is the only one in the family that even notices it and she thinks its funny. The stickiness is what traps the dirt and dust from your feet to keep it from coming in the house. It’s really easy to use, just as the description says, when the top layer is dirty enough that I can’t stand it anymore, I simply pull it off. I’m always amazed (no pun intended!) at how dirty the top layer becomes!

We’ve had The Amazing Mat for about three weeks now and we’ve use 3 or 4 of the layers so far, so I expect this will last us a few more months at the very least I love how easy it has become to keep my floors clean, it’s helped immensely! Especially having a toddler, who loves to play and roll around on our floors, it has given me a bit more peace of mind. I also appreciate how low maintenance this product is, it’s just so easy to use and has saved me from having to wash or vacuum another floor mat. When we run out of sheets instead of purchasing a new mat entirely we are able to order refill sheets, which I really appreciate. If you want to know more about The Amazing Mat and see a visual demonstration, check out their videos on YouTube here. There are several mat designs to choose from and each retails for $29.95 and can be purchased online here and you can use my special Free Shipping discount with code SHIPNOW!

Product was provided for review. For complete disclosure, click here.

Wuggle Pets commercials have cast a serious spell over my children! My little Abby would  jump up and down and sing along whenever the commercial came on the television (it’s seriously the cutest thing ever and I need to get it on video). Emma, my oldest, would incessantly ask for them. It was like our home was a advertiser’s dream come true – you’ll never hear me say commercials don’t work! Once we actually had the Wuggle Pets Starter Kit (which I tried to hide, mind you, because I knew my kids would go crazy for it), my youngest would carry around saying, “Puppy! Puppy!” until we actually had time to sit down and play with the set.

And did we have fun! I’ll admit, I looked at Wuggle Pets like I look at every potential toy and product aimed at kids with my “mom eyes.” What kind of mess will it make? How much does it cost? Will it last? How long will they actually use it before it becomes a hand-me-down? Etc. I was pleasantly surprised with our Wuggle Pets experience and it was fun to see how differently my two daughters enjoyed it because of their difference in age.

Emma, who is 7, took charge right away and claimed the unicorn (of course) and started working on putting the stuffing into the stuffer along with the magic stars. First, though, she added nearly all the character traits (personality charms) into her unicorn. Using Fun Fill Factory was easy for her, she got the hang of it right away and stuffed her pet like a pro. She even filled out the birth certificate for it! Emma’s first request following this activity was, “When can we go to the store and get more pets?”

Abigail, who is 2, was all about finally getting her puppy (she was so excited). We put a few personality charms in her animal, then I helped her crank the Fun Fill Factory wheel and she bounced with anticipation as she watched her puppy come to life. Emma filled out the birth certificate for Abigail’s puppy for her. She hasn’t let the puppy leave her side since.

Taking their Wuggle Pets out for a spin!

The Wuggle Pets 12-piece Starter Kit comes with the Wuggle Fun Fill Factry, a unicorn and a puppy, plus two bags of fluffy stuffing, two packages of magic star dust, two sheets of personality charms, two birth certificates, and a zipper lock (which was really, really helpful). Our magic dust was just paper stars, from the commercial and outter packaging they looked like they would be shiny metallic. The personality charms were just little cut-out paper shapes with character traits on them, it would have been fun to have something a little more substantial. This Starter Kit retails for $19.99, but you can buy Individual Kits (with just the pet and their “insides”) for $7.99. There are eight collectible pets in all, and there is a Party Pack available that features all the Wuggle Pets and everything you need for your party guests to create and take home their own Wuggle Pet.

Product was provided for review. For complete disclosure, click here.

I’m a big fan of Little Caesars pizza, and it’s become somewhat of an inside joke in our home. Since I typically buy it on Saturday, it’s turned into an event we affectionately call “Saturday Caesars,” as in, “I’m going to run out and get our Saturday Caesars!” I do this because it’s easy, there’s no waiting for their HOT-N-READY pizzas, it’s only $5 (!), it feeds all of us, plus there’s leftovers for lunch the next day.

There are a lot of reasons to take advantage of Little Caesars $5 HOT-N-READY pizzas, and there’s a BIG one coming up this weekend…what an easy way to feed the masses at your Super Bowl Party! The Little Caesars $5 HOT-N-READY pizzas are available in pepperoni or cheese varieties, but there’s lots more on the Little Caesars menu, too, like wings and breadsticks – everything you need to make your party a success. Keep your eyes peeled on Little Caesars Facebook and Twitter pages for upcoming promotions and specials, and check out the new Little Caesars iPhone app! To find a Little Caesars location near you, check the store locator here.

Do you love Little Caesars, too? Then you’ll love this giveaway! I’ve got a $5 Little Caesars Gift Card and a Little Caesars beanie character to give away to one lucky reader! To enter to win you can do any or all of the following, but please leave a comment for each as it will count toward your entries:

• Tell me you want to win!
• “Like” Little Caesars on Facebook
• Follow Little Caesars on Twitter
• Follow me on Twitter
• Follow me on Google Friend Connect
• Enter another current giveaway on this site -or- leave a comment on a non-giveaway post. Let me know what you did in your comment.
• Share this giveaway on Facebook using the “Facebook” link below
• Tweet this giveaway (once daily is allowed) – you can simply copy and past the following if you would like, or use the twitter button below: I love pizza! I want to win a @LittleCaesars gift card from @summerflood, you can enter to win, too! #Giveaway #SuperBowl #Pizza http://www.amomlessordinary.com/?p=3990

This giveaway will close on the evening of February 17th and a winner will be chosen at random using “And The Winner Is…” plug-in for WP. Winner will have 48 hours to confirm or a new winner will be chosen. Open to U.S. residents only.

Product was provided for review and giveaway. For complete disclosure policy, click here.

Since last month’s Cravebox was only ho-hum for me, I was really anxious to see what this month’s box would be like. Since Cravebox is a new, currently-in-beta-program, from SheSpeaks, I don’t have any past boxes to go off of and see what I can expect each month. Now that I’ve received this month’s “Vitality Box” and been able to use the products, I couldn’t be happier – a much better experience than last month’s box!

So what’s inside and what do I think?

Switch2Health S2H STEP Pedometer with Points ($24.95 at S2H.com) – I’ve never really cared much for pedometers, as I don’t have a need or desire to track my steps each day. HOWEVER, this little pedometer earns you points that you can then redeem for gift cards. I’m sold! I’ll wear that sucker everywhere I go if it means that walking (doing something I have to do everyday anyway) will get me free stuff

Colavita Extra Virgin Olive Oil ($4.65 at Colvita.com) – This is a cute little bottle of EVOO and provides an opportunity to try out a new brand. I think I’m going to stick it in our food storage and use it for back-up if I ever run out of our usual brand!

Prevention Magazine 1 Year Subscription ($15.85/year at Prevention.com) – Cravebox recipients got their first issue of Prevention included in our boxes this month, the rest will come regular mail. What a great product to include in this box! I read through the issue I received and am really looking forward to the next ones.

Emergen-C Vitamin Drink Mix ($5.90 for 10 packets at EmergenC.com) – I love this box because its full of new-to-me things! I’ve never tried Emergen-C (until now, that is) and I loved getting the tangerine flavor, it’s probably the one I would have chosen at the store anyway. It was pretty good, I’m going to have to play around with the mix-to-water ratio, but I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to try it.

mereadesso Face + Neck Toning Gel ($120.00 at mereadess0.com) – Yes, you read that right, one-hundred-twenty-dollars. How great is that? I love beauty products and this is awesome! I’ve used it a couple times now and I only have great things to say about it. The scent, the texture, etc.

As you can see, I couldn’t be happier at all the wonderful, full-sized, quality products that I received in my Cravebox this month – almost $175 worth of product for my $10 monthly subscription. I feel completely spoiled, appreciate that they followed a theme of being healthy inside and out, and that there were products for home, beauty, and healthy included. After not having been so sure about it last month, I’ll definitely be sticking around for this program! If you’ve got a spare $10 each month and want to try it out, sign up at Cravebox.com and get something crave-worthy just for YOU in the mail

One of the very best ways I’ve gotten my oldest (Emma is 7 and about the pickiest eater in our home at the moment) to eat the healthy food we make for lunch or dinner is not by bribing with dessert or giving her ultimatums, it’s by including her in the dinner routine. From setting the table to mashing the potatoes, if she’s mentally and physically involved in the dinnertime process then she is more invested in its success. Bottom line: if she makes it she’s more than likely to eat it, too, even if that means there are new-to-her vegetables as an ingredient.

Uncle Ben’s Rice has a national contest running right now called Ben’s Beginners with prizes ranges from $20k cash and a $50k school cafeteria grant to an appearance on The Rachael Ray Show. Uncle Ben’s is seeking parents with children between the ages of 5-12 to enter by submitting a 2-3 minute video of cooking a rice-based dish with your children. You can find out all the info on the Ben’s Beginners Facebook page.

I’m pretty lucky in that Emma loves rice, even if she does prefer it plain. We often have rice as a base for a meal I have prepared in the crockpot, which makes things a lot easier on me. You can see some of Uncle Ben’s rice recipes here if you’re looking for inspiration! One of the secrets I keep from her, though, is that I’ll sometimes add pureed vegetables to our meals, ones that can go undetected to the 7 year-old palette, but make our meal all the more healthy. Though she’s not involved in the health-fiying of our meal in this way, she is the beneficiary and there’s nothing more satisfying than having her tell me her dinner was good when I’ve done this.

Another trick I use to get my kids to eat is by calling a certain meal something funny. For instance, Emma hated when I made breakfast for dinner and I could never understand why – it sounds good and healthy to me! But the minute I started saying we’re having “Brinner” tonight (breakfast-dinner, get it?) all of a sudden it was “cool” and something she wanted to be involved in!

From involving them in the kitchen to making a boring meal a little more fun, it’s amazing to me the little things that go such a long way. This is the time when healthy eating habits are cultivated, and I’m doing all I can with Emma to make sure she enjoys healthy food rather than dreads it and also that she will enjoy the preparation of meals, rather than think “Oh, it will just be easier to get take-out.”

How do you involve your kids in healthy eating habits and meal preparation? I’m always interested to learn new methods!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Uncle Ben’s blogging program, for 6,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

I’ve had my eye on Bluum boxes since I saw what was included in their inaugural box a few months ago. Bluum is a deluxe sample delivery box subscription for moms and babies. There was a Plum District deal earlier this month where you could get a 3 month subscription to Bluum at a discounted rate and I took advantage of it. Bluum plans start at $12 a month and are discounted to $11 a month when you purchase quarterly subscriptions. The Bluum box I received this last week was pretty underhwhelming and not at all what I expected based on what I have seen in their previous boxes.

What was inside and what do I think?

Every single item in my box was a free sample that I could have gotten for free on my own, save the magnets. For instance, the Seventh Generation Baby Wipes – I got a two-pack of those in the mail directly from Seventh Generation earlier this month. Plum Tots Organic Mish Mash only costs $1 at my local grocery store. Mederma Stretch Marks Therapy Cream came in about every magazine and promotional mailing I got when I was pregnant. The two products that were new to me in this box were the Skin Free Skin Care Sleep Tight Pillow Spray and The Good Home Co. hand lotions. If I had been so inclined I could have asked those companies to send me a sample of their product and they would have done so for free. I didn’t receive anything I would call “deluxe” or full-sized as I have seen in previous boxes. In fact, this month’s box seems to have leftovers from previous boxes (I did my research before joining and saw what every month’s box so far has included). I feel really let down and frustrated.

I understand that one of the benefits of joining something like Bluum is to be exposed to new products, which is exactly why I join box subscriptions like this one. However, I think Bluum erred with this month’s box. I didn’t expect $60 worth of product like Citrus Lane’s box, but I did expect something worthwhile. I would have been pleased if there was one full-sized or even deluxe-sized sample.

The point of having a deal like they did on Plum District is to get new subscribers. One would think that with an influx of new subscriptions they would make sure they went the extra mile with these new subscribers’ first box so they would be inclined to keep their subscription after their trial. I’m not saying that Bluum has to go out and buy product to include in their box, usually what box subscriptions entail is a company providing a product to the subscription company for mass market in hopes that by being introduced to their product the consumer will become a regular patron. It’s all about advertising. The recipient gets the products, talks to their friends about it, blogs or vlogs about it, links to the company’s site, etc. It’s a win-win in more ways than one across the board. Bluum must have and cultivate relationships with companies to provide products for their boxes. I’m just wondering why this month was a fail.

I also take issue with the “theme” for this month, which was “Sweethearts” and was advertised at being all about pampering your little sweetheart and yourself, so I thought there would be something “valentine-y” about it. I expected a little more thought and effort put into the box and I didn’t get it. For $11 I got about $2 or $3 worth of product. I’m looking forward to seeing if next month is better!

I purchased this with my own money. Affiliate links use. Full disclosure here.

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and I don’t know about you, but I always try to find something fun for my daughter to take to school for her friends, but always end up shopping the last minute and have to deal with whatever’s left. Not this year! I ordered a set of Classroom Valentine’s Day Cards from minted.com and they are so fun! I am so excited for Emma to get to give these cards to her friends!

Emma and I looked through all the cards minted.com had to offer and they were all so fun, but Emma is a little artist and she thought it would be great fun to be able to draw individual pictures for all her friends so we ordered the Work of Art Classroom Valentine’s Day Cards. I think it’s great that even though we have purchased these Valentine’s that she still gets to personalize them in her own special way. One of the really nice things we like about the card we chose is that it has Emma’s picture on it, which I think will be particularly fun for her friends and will definitely make her cards stand out from the crowd.

Because they’re “classroom cards” the cards are small, sized at 2.5 by 3.5 inches, so you wouldn’t be able to send them in regular mail. The ones we ordered were made on a very thick and quality card stock. They come with adorable little envelopes, too. There are many ways to personalize the cards, from different color schemes to different fonts and you can add pictures or images to the back of the cards, too, if you want. The ordering process is very simple and after you place your order you will get a proof of the final project that you can double-check and make sure everything is right before final print.

Prices for Classroom Valentine’s Day Cards start at $16 for a set of 15 and the prices go up from there based on amount ordered and personalization options. Be sure to place your order by February 7th to ensure delivery in time for Valentine’s Day! Right now you can get $25 off your order of $50 or more with my referral link but signing up for minted.com here.

Product was provided for review. For complete disclosure, click here.

I’ve been waiting for a good excuse to join Citrus Lane and when I received an email from Healthy Child Healthy World that they would be working together on January’s “Fresh Start”-themed box, I decided that now was the time to jump in – and I’m so glad I did! The theme was to include all organic products to get your year started off on the right foot. I received this delivery a few days ago and it’s superb, exceeding all my expectations when it comes to box subscriptions. It included several full-sized products for mom and tot and then some…

What’s inside and what do I think?

Dolphin Organics Lotion ($11.49 at DolphinOrganics.com) – I have been dying to try Dolphin Organics products for a couple months now, so it being part of this box just made my day. It’s literally fragrance-free and it’s 100% organic. It’s perfect for my toddler’s after bath time routine and I’m really excited to finally experience this company’s product.

Green Toys Tug Boat ($14.99 at GreenToys.com) – This is a new discovery for me and am so glad it was in this month’s box! This tug boat is made from recycled milk containers and is for use in the bathtub. My 2 year-old loves to scoop and dump water in the tub so I am so happy to have a “green” bathtub toy for her to play with!

Happy Baby Happy Yogis (2 @ $3.59 at Target, etc.) – We love Happy Baby Yogis! This is something we purchase regularly and receiving them in our box was most welcome, even though we’re already customers of the brand. As you can see from the video they were Abby’s favorite box item!

Pangea Organics Lip Balm ($12.00 at PangeaOrganics.com) – One of the reasons I love box subscriptions is because I get introduced to companies and products I am not familiar with, and Pangea Organics is one of them. I couldn’t have asked for a better lip balm – it’s organic, lavender-scented, and very generously sized! I really love it. I am looking forward to trying more of their products now.

Plum District ($10 for PlumDistrict.com) – Two $5 shopping cards for Plum District were included in this month’s box, and that’s awesome because I love Plum District deals so these will go to very good use.

Bloume Baby (20% off at BloumeBaby.com) – This month’s box also included an exclusive 20% off coupon for BloumeBaby.com which sells organic clothes and accessories for mom and baby. I’ve got two cousins expecting babies soon so I have every intention of using this discount for some quality, organic gifts for them.

Normally subscriptions to Citrus Lane are $25 per month, but I used a discount offer and received this first box for $15 (you can also get a discount when you purchase 6 0r 12 months at a time). For $15 I received over $60 in products, so I really couldn’t be more pleased with my foray into Citrus Lane subscriptions! You can get an even better deal than I got and get 1/2 off your first month’s box (pay only $12.50) when you use code CITRUSHALF4 at CitrusLane.com. Also, if you weren’t a member of Citrus Lane and didn’t receive this box, but WANT to, you can purchase it (it’s a Limited Edition Box) for $30 at CitrusLane.com (I got the toddler version, but there’s a baby version, too with a variation in items!).

My husband and I recently decided that we needed a car upgrade and after a few weeks of car shopping we finally nailed down what we wanted and made a new (well, new to us) car purchase early last week. It’s been a few years since the last time we car shopped and its easy to forget all the things you have to take into consideration when looking for cars – one of them being insurance. We budget our money each month and we certainly took that into consideration when deciding what car to purchase – we didn’t want to see our monthly premium get bumped up too much!

One thing we took advantage of before our big purchase was Esurance’s Free Quote app on Facebook so we could get an idea of what kind of monthly premium we would be looking at with whatever car we were interested in purchasing. Since we’re on Facebook at least a few times a day it was the easiest way to get the information we were looking for. Once we input the information requested we got a quote right away, we didn’t have to wait for an email asking us for more information or asking us to call an agent. We did, though, receive an email shortly after confirming our quote, but not pressuring us for a call. Both the email and the information on the Facebook app was upfront that this is what our lowest rate could be and if we wanted more information we could call. That was a great selling point for us! And it was a time-saver, too, since we could enter information on a few different cars we were considering and see how the rates differed from vehicle to vehicle!

One of the other benefits to using Esurance’s Facebook page was we could ask a question and get a response within a reasonable amount of time and it didn’t take a lot of effort on our part. I’ve noticed that an Esurance representative always answers questions or concerns, and sometimes community members even chime in to share their experience with Esurance. Have you seen the Esurance commercials? They even promote the ability to interact with their company online through social media, which is something I totally prefer. I don’t have the time to sit on the phone, so if I can ask a simple question online and get an answer that way, then that’s the company I want to do business with! Plus, they encourage an upbeat, honest community, even if that means some people don’t always have nice things to say about them.

If you’ve got a Facebook account, it’s as easy as “liking” Esurance to take advantage of all the resources available on their Facebook page. As an aside, it is interesting to note that our monthly insurance premium went down with our recent car purchase! But we knew that ahead of time thanks to the Esurance Free Quote Facebook App  ;)

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Esurance blogging program for 8,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. For more information on how you can participate, click here.