Did you hear?! It is that time of year again! The Gap Casting Call is going on right now. You know I have to enter my little fashion diva L. She is just too adorable and loves to ham it up for the camera. Gap has asked for my help to spread the word about the Gap Casting call and in return they are going to give one of my readers their own free pair of jeans. So cool right?

I did want to share a few tips with you so you can capture that perfect photo of your child.

1. Make sure to not pose your child. Let them be natural and snap away with your camera. If you pose them, they will start getting aggravated and will possibly have meltdowns.

2. Stage the photo shoot in front of a solid background. If you have busy distractions in the background, your camera flash may focus on the background noise instead of your precious model.

3. Keep continuously shooting with your camera. Do not stop so you will not miss that perfect shot. Kids move and change poses fast, so keep snapping away.

4. Be upbeat. If you are upbeat throughout the photo shoot, then the child will be happy.

5. Ask the child questions throughout the photo shoot, to spark their creativity. Keep them smiling with crazy sayings. Happiness will equal one awesome photo shoot!

I did a  mini photo shoot with L and did a short video of the photo shoot to showcase the tips above. Watch the short minute and half video to see what photo we ended up entering in the Gap Casting Call!

Now it is your turn to create a photo shoot. Hurry and go grab your camera, your child and start snapping away. Here are the 4 categories:

• Baby Girls (ages 0 to 4 years of age)
• Baby Boys (ages 0 to 4 years of age)
• Girls (ages 5 to 10 years of age)
• Boys (ages 5 to 10 years of age)

GIVEAWAY!

Enter to win a free pair of gap jeans by:

1. Leaving a comment below with your email address.
and/or
2. Tweet about the Gap Casting Call. Example Tweet: I really want to win a free pair of Gap Jeans on @OneMomsWorld Casting Call Giveaway http://ow.ly/2OJYs

Make sure to leave another comment each time you tweet. Good Luck!

* This post is sponsored by BabyCenter and Gap. All tips, photos and video are of my own judgement!

My girls are getting ready to wrap up their first 9 weeks before they track out of school for 3 weeks. They have done so wonderful and my oldest is loving the comments she is getting with all her DaySpring Back to School products. M has really been asking a lot of questions lately about God and how the devil can use people to get you down. She is one smart cookie… I am telling you!

I want my girls to be a Christian example and for everyone to know that we live by God’s guidance. My parents always brought me up to church so it is my priority to do the same with my girls. The foundation starts while the children are young and we cannot always control what happens at school. We can control though how we are bringing up our children and mold them them not fall for peer pressure. The children can be at school with a purpose and show that God is our all mighty powerful leader. We can lean on him to help us get through each day. M is really realizing that this year with each passing day and it warms my heart to know she is making an example with all the kids in her class. I will have another post coming soon from her teacher’s conference last Friday of just how much of an awesome leader M is in her class. I love it and I know God is smiling down on that precious M.

How does your  kids live with a purpose at school? I know three special blogging friends in my life that do have their kids live with a purpose at school. They are:

Cindy at Cin’s Out Numbered & Loving It
Nell at Casual Friday Everyday
Carolina Mama

I love how they are not afraid to share their testimony and be a christian role model to their kids. Thank you ladies for making the world a better place for our kids!

I would love for you to join in the Back to School With Purpose Blog Campaign

DAYSPRING’S BACK TO SCHOOL WITH PURPOSE BLOG CAMPAIGN RULES:

* Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.
* Create a blog post or Facebook note about what it means to you to go Back to School WithPurpose and identify others who you feel are Living With Purpose in their lives – you can recognize as many individuals as you want.
* Link back to person who gave you a DaySpring Award
* Let each person you are recognizing know you have recognized them.
* Leave your link at btswithpurpose comment section. You can also find the official rules of this #WithPurpose blog campaign, and more information about Back to School with Purpose with DaySpring there.
* DaySpring is donating $10 for each blog or Facebook note participating in the Virtual Bag It Forward Donation to Adopt-A-Classroom (up to total of $5,000 for blog posts written by September 08, 2010).
* Please note that only one blog post per blog url will count towards the donation

Samsung… This is a word that I was not real educated on until about a year ago. We were in the market for a Washer and Dryer and my hopes were set on a Front Loader Washer and Dryer. Take a look and listen on how we arrived at the decision for purchasing a Samsung Front Loader Washer and Dryer.

As you can see, we are pretty big fans of the Samsung brand. I had the delight of being able to experience the whole new line of Samsung Appliances recently when I was in NYC. Recently, Samsung launched their new 2010 Home Appliance Line-up. Samsung’s new home appliance product line includes a front-loading washer (WF520) with a spacious 5.0 cu.ft. capacity and a new intense PowerFoam™ cleaning technology, a new Four-Door Refrigerator (RF4287) with a unique mid-drawer positioned at counter height that opens to the outside and has independent temperature control,  a new line of side-by-side refrigerators highlighted by the RS267 that offers best in class energy efficiency, and the first hybrid induction range. There is a store located in NYC that lets  you go in and have your very own Samsung Experience. This allows you to go indepth with each product to see if this is the right match. I will say, once you get in there, you will not want to leave.

Samsung is listening to us moms. They heard that we are busier than ever and designed their appliances in a way to save us time and energy! Let’s take a look into the new Refrigerator.

The Samsung Refrigerator is a Four-Door French Refrigerator. The drawers in this fridge just makes moms smile so big. A Counter Height 4th Drawer called the FlexZone Drawer is an independent mid drawer, separate from the main refrigerator compartment that offers something for every family member. Just take a look inside of this fridge.

Look how spacious and organized it is! You can easily open the refrigerator and find the item that you need at any given moment throughout the day. Do you see the shelves straight back on the left? You can actually fold those shelves up to give you more room for taller items such as for soda pop bottles. Then the doors at the bottom are just the most creative design ever! It comes with a smart divider.

The Smart Divider is adjustable and offers flexible storage solutions for whatever you grocery needs may be – it is the ultimate refrigerator organization tool.

Also, on the front of the refrigerator is all kinds of temperature controls that you change by just simply touching the buttons with your hand. With four preset temperature control settings, Mom can store a party-size salad platter; Dad can have optimally chilled drinks; and kids can easily reach for their favorite snacks and juices boxes – all at the perfect temperature.

Thank you Samsung for finally creating a fridge that caters to the ever so busy family in today’s fast pace world.

As if I was not totally won over by the refrigerator (I was actually drooling over it), I set my eyes on the new range.

This is a freestanding induction range. It only uses a specific set of cookware, that is how high tech this beautiful appliance is.  The induction range has faster cook times, which means dinner gets to the table quicker.  It offers fast and efficient cooking and boils water up to 50 percent faster than traditional electric cooktops. With the easy-to-use SelecTouch™ panel, you have more precise control over cooktop temperature, whether using high-heat or doing a slow simmer. You also get a faster response when changing temperatures so you can master meals no matter what skills you have as a cook. Now us moms have no excuse of not saying we cannot cook… Samsung is helping us moms get back to cooking in the kitchen instead of take-out every night .

We all know that the after dinner part is one of those things that takes so much of mom’s time. Samsung is hitting it out of the ballpark with saving us time with the induction range. Since the smooth surface stays cool to the touch, food spills don’t get caked on and baked in. Moms can just wipe and go, so they can spend less time cleaning and more time entertaining.

Now you can see why I have really fell in love with the Samsung appliances?! It just thrills me so much that Samsung is actually listening to us moms that we need time savers in order to get more time in the day. They have worked hard with their engineers to make sure they are delivering a product that moms everywhere are going to love. Samsung is all ears and very open to opinions. I learned this when I was in the Samsung Experience room.

Every question I asked, was always followed through with a thorough response. Samsung you really have a customer for life!

Go ahead and take your own Samsung Experience on their online site at Samsung.com/HomeAppliances.

Full Disclosure: I was in no way paid for my thoughts here about Samsung. I am a true real customer that just wants to share these time saving appliances with other parents.

Caring for others is what makes this world such a beautiful place to live in! There are always negative things that can go on all around us, but fortunately we can choose to just work around them and focus our attention on the positive and encouraging times. God loves us and I have learned so much over the last year to not dwell on the negativity but to try and uplift others and be as positive as I can. Turn all that negativity into a positive passion.

Back in May, I was hospitalized for 7 days with at the beginning not really sure totally what was going on inside my body. It was very scary, dark times the first few days in the hospital by myself. I had an awesome friend that took time out of her busy schedule to sit by my beside for not one, not two, but THREE hours to console me, make me laugh and just be with me. Her presence being there with me was such a priceless moment. Then the very next day was my Birthday and this awesome friend made her presence once again into my hospital room with a priceless gift that I will never forget. She took the time and got several friends from this gracious blogging community to film videos of birthday shout-outs for ME. All for me. I was in tears when she was showing me. My heart was bursting the seams with just thankfulness.

See her video here on where she is explaining how she paid it forward from a friend doing the same while she was in the hospital room.

See how we can use what happens in our lives and pay it forward. This is what friendship is all about. Uplifting others, encouraging others and just plain paying it forward. When is the last time you helped out a friend in need? Let’s make a difference starting now!

I am truly thankful for all you did Sarah.

I have a hero in the blogging world. Her name happens to be Stephanie over at Adventures in Babywearing. As you all know, L has had lots of medical issues during her whole life. We are working through all the issues. One of the things that has always weighed heavily on my mind is vaccinations. L only received her vaccinations her first year of life.  Then when all her medical issues started escalating and I begin doing more and more research, my husband and I made the decision to hold off on the vaccinations for her. I knew we had a few years till she had to start school so I would just deal with it later.

Well as you know time and life comes at you fast. L is ready to begin kindergarten. How can this be true? I began worrying on what we would do with the vaccinations requirement for school entry then I stumbled across this informational blog post from Stephanie. She totally answered my questions and made me realize that I could stand up for my child and not make L do the vaccinations to just attend school.

We enrolled her in school Monday and everything went so smoothly and the staff at the school didn’t even bat an eye about the girls’ vaccinations report. Now, I do want to say that I am not saying for you to not get your kids vaccinated. All I am saying is to please read Stephanie’s post and get educated about the whole vaccination situation. You are your child’s voice and we do still have rights here in the USA.

My husband and I both feel we have made the right choice for our girls and I hope the same when you are making the decision about your children.

Thank you Steph for being my saving grace during this time!

Mother’s Day is coming up this weekend. I am going to go ahead and tell you that as a mom, I love to get the day off from cooking!

We have teamed up with Buffet’s Inc. to tell you about an awesome event they are having this weekend.

What: Two-day  “We Celebrate Moms” Mother’s Day tribute at all Buffets, Inc. restaurants; promotion offers chance to win pampering prizes for mom – ranging from restaurant gift cards to spa gift certificates to a luxurious cruise

When: Sunday, May 9 and Monday, May 10

Who: Any mom who dines at a Buffets, Inc. restaurant are eligible

How: Moms visiting any Buffets, Inc. restaurant on May 9 or 10 will receive a card containing a unique entry code. By entering the code at the www.wecelebratemoms.com website, guests will learn whether they are a lucky instant winner. Everyone who participates will win a certificate for a Buy One, Get One Free (“BOGO”) meal at a Buffets, Inc. restaurant.

Where: All Ryan’s, Fire Mountain Grill, Old Country Buffet, HomeTown Buffet, Granny’s Buffet and Country buffet restaurant locations across the country

Why: It’s Buffets, Inc.’s way of saying thanks and celebrating the woman at the heart of everyone’s family

And to sweeten this deal even further moms, Buffet Inc. offering two free meal passes to two of my readers. All you have to do is leave a comment below and let me know how you love to Celebrate on Mother’s Day!

For More Entries (Leave a comment for each entry)

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The snow is falling all around and the ground is just absolutely beautiful. The weather makes for treacherous driving, but you have to admit that it can be fun playing in.

One of the fun games my girls and I love to participate in is snowball throwing. Oh yea just when you are not looking and SMACK… you are hit! The girls will run just laughing their little hearts out to get ready to throw their next snowball.

So when I heard that there was a petition to try and get Snowball throwing as an event at the Olympics, I was all over this. You see, I have always wanted to be a part of the Winter Olympics since I was a little girl but since graceful is not in my vocab… I have just given up all hopes until NOW. Now, I can throw a mean snowball so I think I should be the first one recruited for this event right? Who is with me?

Go sign the petition and let’s join together so we can all be in the even together. Now if you just feel like you cannot sign the petition now and need to work on your snowball throwing skills, no worries! Coca-Cola has developed an online game to get you prepared and perfect your snowball throwing skills. Let the games begin .

As you are preparing and perfecting  your skills, I have 5 shirts (You pick your own size) from the IFST and Coca-Cola to giveaway to show you are serious about your snowball throwing skills for this year’s Winter Olympics. Also, guess what? One lucky reader will also win:

Collector’s edition bottle sets from the 2008 Beijing Olympics!

All you need to do is leave me a comment below to let me know how which video you liked the best from the IFST Blog.

For Extra Entries:

Tweet About This Contest
Follow Me on Twitter @OneMomsWorld
Follow IFST on Twitter @IFSTPresident
Join Our Facebook Fan Page
Subscribe to Our RSS Feed

(Leave a comment for each entry you do) Contest will end Feb

May the Winter Olympic Games Begin!

Full Disclosure:

Coca-Cola is running an online parody campaign called the ‘International Federation of Snowball Throwing’ designed to generate excitement for the upcoming Olympics and promote TCCC’s Olympic sponsorship in an unexpected way. I was not paid in anyway to write this post. I love snowball throwing so wanted to join in. I may end up with some great Coca-Cola merchandise though

As everyone that knows me by now, I am a huge Electronics fan. I live and breathe technology so much. As much as I would love to be at the Consumer Electronics Show out in Las Vegas this year, I just cannot. This is where Kodak comes in to play, thank goodness!

This year, Kodak wants you to be a part of CES from your home computer. We all can participate and see all the action at the show by watching live streaming panels direct from the Kodak K-Zone on the CES Floor. You can also join the discussion by submitting questions to the panelists via Twitter and using the hashtag #kzone.

Here are the panels:

The New CMO: Chief Memory Officer (Thursday, January 7, at 11:00 a.m. PST)

A look at today’s CMO’s and how they create, share and relive moments in their lives.

Speakers include: Tina Sharkey (Chairman and Global President, Baby Center), Jill Zarin (The Real Housewives of NYC), and Jen Drexler (Director of Brand Insights, Just Ask A Woman)

It’s All About KISS (Thursday, January 7 at 12:00 p.m. PST)

And we’re not talking about the rock band. Hear from leading women in technology about why simpler is better in today’s fast-paced world.

Speakers include: Linda Tischler (Senior Writer, FastCompany), Tina Sharkey (Chairman and Global President, Baby Center), Pam Sherman (author and public speaker known as The Suburban Outlaw), and Jen Drexler (Director of Brand Insights, Just Ask a Woman)

The M-Suite (Friday, January 8 at 3:00 p.m. PST)

How momtreprenuers and stay at home moms are building successful businesses.

Speakers include: Amanda Robinson (NaturalMommies.com), Sharon Napier (founder, Partners & Napier), Susan Tousi (Kodak), Soleil Moon Frye (actress), and Stacie Haight Connerty (blogger, Thedivinemissmommy.com)

Help, My Mom Friended Me on Facebook (Friday, January 8 at 11:00 a.m. PST)

Kids eight and under will never know what life was like before Google. Learn how technology is changing their lives – and their parent’s lives in the process.

Speakers include: Pam Sherman (author and public speaker known as The Suburban Outlaw), Susan Getgood (Blogwithintegrity.com), Jill Zarin (the Real Housewives of NYC), Linda Sawyer (CEO of Deutch), Christy Matte (editor of the Family Computing Guide, About.com)

Father Knows Best (Friday, January 8 at 5:00 p.m. PST)

It’s time to hear from the dads! Hear from these tech savvy dads on how they use technology with their kids, and the lessons learned.

Speakers include: Michael Ferrara (TechnoDad), Jeff Hayzlett (CMO, Kodak), Fred Fishkin (technology reporter, Bloomberg Radio), Jackson Lynch (WIRED)

To view the live streaming and recorded videos, or more information, visit www.kodak.com/go/ces.

Also for all my readers that would love to tune in, I get to giveaway courtesty of Kodak – KODAK D830 Digital Frame.

Just leave a comment below telling me which panel you would like to catch and you will be entered. Simple as that. Tweet and Facebook this post for extra entries!! Leave an extra comment for each entry you do.

Let the Electronics Show begin!

We are a huge reading family. Each night we take time to sit down for family time and M reads her chapter book to us and then I will read to the girls. I just love having this time each night with the girls. Also, the girls love books. They are always asking for new books and so delighted when they see new books come in.

Cheerios has teamed up with Jon Scieszka and First Book to distribute 100,000 new books to kids in need across the country. Through the 100,000 Book Giveaway, the five states receiving the highest number of votes will each receive 20,000 new books for local kids – and we need your help to decide where the books should be donated!

By answering the trivia questions featured in this challenge, you can help select the states that will receive new books for local kids. For every trivia question you answer correctly now through August 31st, 2010, you can cast one vote for the state you want to receive new books. The more questions you answer correctly, the more votes you cast!

We take so much for advantage and don’t realize how a simple book is wanted so bad by children that just cannot afford them in their household and county school system. We are very fortunate here in our school system for the Pre-K division. Each week a new set of books is sent home in a reading bag for myself to read to L. We were so thrilled when this program started for the first time this year, but I never realized till Cheerios brought to my attention how this is wanted so badly by other states and school systems!

Please take a moment and go to the site and answer some of the trivia questions to cast your votes to where the books should be sent.

Cheerios sent to us through My Blog Spark a gift pack.

All the books shown above were included and also a box of the Frosty Cheerios. They included a Barnes and Noble gift card as well. Each book was the perfect shape to fit into travel bags for the girls and just the right length. Each night we would read one, and the girls just loved sitting there listening then asking questions at the end. No book is the same, so I really recommend at the end of each book you read to your child, to let them ask questions to see how much of the book they actually do comprehend!

Cheerios through My Blog Spark would like to offer one of my reader’s this same gift pack. All you need to do is:

1. Leave a comment about your reading routine with your family.

Then to receive extra entries:

1. Tweet this contest

2. Facebook this contest

3. Subscribe to our feed

4. Blog about this contest

Leave an extra comment for each entry that you do!

I will close this contest on Dec. 19th at 11:59pm EST.

Full Disclosure: I did receive the Cheerios, prize pack, information, and giveaway from Cheerios through MyBlogSpark.

This is an old-time favorite movie of mine and I was thrilled when Disney announced it was going to be released from the vault. This meant, I was going to get the chance to share a movie that I loved as a child with my girls. Disney released it for the first time ever, on October 6, 2009 on high-definition Blue-ray!

One of the perks about this is that the Blue-ray is packed also with a DVD. That way you can watch the Blue-ray in the living room and then have the DVD for the kids room, your car or even to watch on the computer. All the pictures of the movie have been restored and have 7.1 Digital Theater System Hi-Def Surround Sound. This release includes “Disney Smart Navigation,” allowing the magic and personality of Disney Characters to come to life as never before. “Disney Family Play,” the ultimate interactive Hi-Def experience, offers a variety of immersive games, activityes and unprecedented levels of personalization and customization features, to transform hwo families experience home entertainment together.

Here are some sneak peek pictures of the movie. My girls are loving this.

As you can see, the movie has just been totally transformed with the restoration that Disney has done. Needless to say, this will be a special movie for us for years to come. The girls have always heard about Snow White, but we had never officially watched the movie. Did you know also that this movie is the first film to ever have a motion picture soundtrack and the first film to use music to advance the story. Pretty cool huh?

The highlights of the Blu-Ray combo pack that we are enjoying are:

Highlights about this combo pack:

* Up to 6x better quality than DVD
* Immersive activity with games and special features
* Kid proof-more scratch resistant (can I just say  how awesome this is?)
* Plays both Blu-ray and DVD discs
* Blu-ray also plays on Sony Playstation 3 players

This Diamond Edition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is priced at $39.99 Suggested Retail Price. This would make a great Christmas Present for that awesome child in your life

My girls were really pleased with the graphics and the interactions you could do on the movie.  Two thumbs up for the One Moms World gang!

Disclosure: We were sent this Combo Pack to review here at One Moms World. We were in no way paid for our review. It comes from our heart as always!