Summer is almost here and my kids could not be more excited! We love Summer in this house.

Summer means swimming at the pool, camps, entertaining, weekend trips with the family, hanging out with the cousins and whatever else we can think of  for fun.

We do a lot over the Summer and I start planning this action-packed Summer at the beginning of Spring. I mean in this state, people would sign up for Summer camp in the Winter if they could.

I am a planner. The ALDI Summer Seasonal Catalog helps me with my planning.

Need inspiration for a party recipe? They have you covered.

Planning a Summer camping trip? ALDI has you covered with camping basics and even has some tips.

The perfect picnic can be yours with the refreshing drinks and yummy foods at ALDI.

Want to know what the perfect Summer side dish is? Check the catalog.

The ALDI Summer Seasonal Catalog has:

-award-winning wines perfect for the summer season

-Fourth of July recipes

-delicious Tuscan Garden marinades featured

-burger recipes

-tips for stylish summer entertaining

-much more

You should really check it out and see how much better ALDI can make your Summer this year.

TIP: Check out the summer seasonal recipes and more at www.pinterest.com/ALDIUS

The seasonal catalog has some amazing things in it designed to really enhance your Summer fun!

WIN AN ADVENTURIDGE FOLDING WAGON HERE!

One lucky reader will win an ALDI Adventuridge Folding Wagon {ARV$49.99} – how cool is this wagon?

To enter, name one of the ALDI award-winning wines perfect for the summer season featured in the Summer catalog. For more hints, go here.  Leave your answer as a comment below.

BONUS ENTRIES FOR EXTRA CHANCES TO WIN

Tweet out about the party (before the party only) by hitting the Retweet button on this post. – 5 Entries (leave a comment for each entry)

Tweet out to @StacieinAtlanta and @crissy with the hashtag #ALDISummer about your favorite item from the ALDI Summer  Seasonal Catalog. – 5 Entries

Tweet out to @StacieinAtlanta and @crissy with the hashtag #ALDISummer about your favorite recipe from the ALDI Summer  Seasonal Catalog. – 5 Entries

Giveaway ends 5/20 and is open to US only. Winner be chosen via Random.org.

I was compensated for this post but the views are my own.

Summer is coming and ALDI wants to celebrate! In addition to launching their Summer Seasonal Catalog, they are throwing a Twitter party with some fabulous prizes to introduce you to just a few of the products available at your local ALDI store.

In the meantime, you can enter to win an Adventuridge Folding Wagon, learn a little more about the Summer Seasonal Catalog and help us spread the word about this fabulous party.

Did you know that ALDI stores are in 32 US States? Find one near you with their store locator.

Won’t you join us?

WHO

ALDI with panelists @StacieinAtlanta and @crissy

WHAT

#ALDISummer Twitter Party

WHERE

Twitter with the hasgtag #ALDISummer

WHEN

Thursday, May 17, 2012 from 8-9 EST

WIN

Crofton Ice Cream Maker

Crofton Milkshake Maker

Crane Lawn Dart Set

Adventuridge Folding Wagon

I was compensated for this post but the views are my own.

He came into our house just a few short weeks ago. Majestic is a Red-Eared Slider. My son is already in love.

Did you know turtles can live 40-50 years? Yeah I didn’t either.

I told my son that it was very likely that his grandchildren would be enjoying this turtle as well.

 Not Your Momblog, High Impact Mom, Colorado Moms, Resourceful Mom

Rajean Blomquist, BrainFoggles, Zensible Mama & Rachel Ferrucci

and link your own photo stories

 Other Wordless Wednesday places to link up:

 

My full time job is as a wife and mother. Although I spend a lot of time with those duties (they are neverending, right?) I am also a social media consultant. I work with many different companies on a regular basis. Some are ongoing clients. Others just need my help briefly. But they are all important because this business is something that supports my family.

I am constantly working from my Windows phone. I contact bloggers. I contact clients. I manage multiple projects from start to finish on an ongoing basis. All from my phone.

There are so many things in social media that I do on a daily basis. For myself as mother, as a blogger and as a social media consultant.

Since I rely so heavily on my phone, I also need apps that will perform for me as well. I attend anywhere from 8-10 conferences per year and I don’t bring my computer with me along to the conference. I use my phone 100% to conduct all of my business.

TWITTER AND FACEBOOK

I Tweet multiple times on a daily basis. This is mostly business related but I also have conversations on Twitter with people. Conversations can last minutes or days and almost always ongoing. I have to be able to check Twitter on my phone. I love to share information about what I am learning at conferences with my readers and I love to see their responses. We often carry on conversations about the information that I am sending out.

I post to Facebook for clients, for my blog and for my family & friends. For clients, I might be recruiting bloggers or sharing information about their latest promotion. For my friends and family, I might comment on their status updates or pictures or even post some pictures myself. Facebook has to be fast and this is mainly something that I do from my phone.

TAKING NOTES WITH EVERNOTE

I use EverNote constantly. I can share TO-DO lists with other bloggers that I work on projects with. I share lists with clients about initiatives that we need to work on next. I have ongoing list that I share with my husband about grocery shopping and another list of projects that we need to complete around our house.

MANAGING MY FAMILY WITH ABOUT ONE

The recently debuted AboutOne app is definitely worth a closer look and even a download to your phone.

“AboutOne’s online family organizer enhances your existing calendar (coming soon) and contacts tools with online filing and reporting to automatically organize, store, and share family memories and household paperwork. This is the “go to” place to keep your family running smoothly.”

AboutOne helps you get your family organized, eliminate paper clutter and manage your entire life on-the-go. You can set up email alerts for birthdays, appointments, medication and more. The best part is that you can put whatever you want in your virtual filing cabinet and your data is safe, secure in this user friendly app.

Who couldn’t use a family organizer? As someone who is paperwork challenged, I have often longed for the day where everything could be stored electronically in one place. I need this app!

The reason I love my phone so much is because years ago, this might have meant hours at my computer, but being able to do this with a Smart Phone has made me infinitely more productive and, honestly, more present as a mother. I love that. And so do my children.

Check out my previous posts with my Windows Phone:

COOKING WITH TECHNOLOGY #windowsphone

ME TIME: Escape in the Park #windowsphone

FAMILY FUN: Chronicling Our Lives – Tips for Making Everyday Pictures Even Better #windowsphone

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a dinner sponsored by the Kids LiveWell program from the National Restaurant Association.

Those of you who read my blog or follow me on Twitter know that I am pretty lucky when it comes to my children and their eating habits. My two oldest children love to drink water and my youngest drinks milk like crazy. Juices are always 100% juice and my kids just generally stay away from things with a lot of sugar.

All three kids love grilled chicken and vegetables. It is not at all tough for me to get my kids to eat healthy food and while they do appreciate the occasional dessert, they are pretty easy going kids when it comes to food. I am definitely lucky.

Kids LiveWell is a fairly new initiative started just last year by the National Restaurant Association.

ABOUT THE KIDS LIVEWELL PROGRAM

The National Restaurant Association launched the Kids LiveWell program in collaboration with Healthy Dining to help parents and children select healthful menu options when dining out. Restaurants that participate in the voluntary program commit to offering healthful meal items for children, with a particular focus on increasing consumption of fruit and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and low-fat dairy, and limiting unhealthy fats, sugars and sodium.

The Kids LiveWell program benefits both restaurateurs and guests. Participating restaurants get third-party verification and promotional materials for qualified meals and individual menu items. Parents and caretakers get accurate information to help them make informed decisions about their child’s meal.

A KIDS LIVEWELL MEAL

Kids LiveWell Nutrition Criteria for Full Kids’ Meals (entrée, side option and beverage):

• 600 calories or less
• ≤ 35% of calories from total fat
• ≤ 10% of calories from saturated fat
• < 0.5 grams trans fat (artificial trans fat only)
• ≤ 35% of calories from total sugars (added and naturally occurring)
• ≤ 770 mg of sodium
• 2 or more food groups (see below)

Kids LiveWell Nutrition Criteria for Side Items:

• 200 calories or less
• ≤ 35% of calories from total fat
• ≤ 10% of calories from saturated fat
• < 0.5 grams trans fat (artificial trans fat only)
• ≤ 35% of calories from total sugars (added and naturally occurring)
• ≤ 250 mg of sodium
• 1 food group (see below)

Full meals must include two sources & sides must include one source of the following:

• Fruit: > ½ cup = 1 star (includes 100% juice)
• Vegetable: > ½ cup = 1 star
• Whole grains:  contains whole grains = 1 star
• Lean protein (skinless white meat poultry, fish/seafood, beef, pork, tofu, beans, egg):  > 2 ounces meat, 1 egg or egg equivalent, 1 oz nuts/seeds/dry bean/peas = 1 star (lean as defined by USDA)
• Lower-fat dairy (1% or skim milk and dairy):  > ½ cup = 1 star (while not considered low-fat, 2% milk is allowed if included in the meal and the meal still fits the full meal criteria)

RESTAURANTS PARTICIPATING IN KIDS LIVEWELL

The program started with 19 brands participating. To date, there are over 87 brands with an impressive total of 15,000+ locations.

For the complete list, go here.

GET SOCIAL WITH KIDS LIVEWELL

Follow Kids LiveWell on Twitter

Like Kids LiveWell on Facebook

For more information on the program and participating restaurants, visit restaurant.org/kidslivewell or healthydiningfinder.com.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

This is so incredibly exciting. Now you can download the app the pick the perfect Kids LiveWell participating restaurant.  The free app is available in the Android Market and iTunes app store. To download the app, visit: www.restaurant.org/kidslivewell.

Check out all of the restaurants near me:

Disclosure: I received compensation from the National Restaurant 

Association’s Kids LiveWell program for my time reviewing 

and writing about their program. The opinions expressed are 

solely my own.

With summer almost here most moms are trying to figure out just what to do and where to go with their little ones. But there’s always a place in the morning where moms can drop off their kids and go kick-back: and that’s Kangazoom.

Kangazoom Alpharetta which boasts of having a Mom’s Morning Out program weekdays from 9 am to 1pm is also taking their care and love for kids a step further by hosting a Diaper Drive Summer Jam June 3rd for the local non-profit Atlanta Diaper Relief!

The center, which is owned by celebrity mom of five, Tameka Raymond has partnered with Atlanta Diaper Relief to collect diapers for babies in need in a fun, engaging way by having a fun-filled event with food, a kiddie DJ, lots of fun and a chance to learn more about how to help babies in need

Raymond owns Kangazoom and is Founder of the Lost Ones Foundation, a charitable organization which helps uplift and motivate at risk girls ages 12-18. The two charitable organizations have partnered to bring awareness to the diaper need in Metro Atlanta. Thousands of babies sit in soiled diapers because their parents can’t afford to buy more. Atlanta Diaper Relief gives diapers out for FREE to needy families. It’s a prolific problem and now the organizations have partnered to collect more diapers and bring awareness to this great cause.

For entry parents must bring a box of diapers to donate to Atlanta Diaper Relief so kids can play! Kangazoom is a beautiful indoor play facility that features four party rooms, inflatable jumps, arcade games, a clothing boutique, a snack/gift corner, parents lounge, computer corner, and more assorted fun for children ages two to twelve.

Meet and greet Tameka Raymond, Founder of Lost Ones Foundation and owner of Kangazoom and Kia Morgan Smith, Founder of Atlanta Diaper Relief.

This event is also hosted by BabyShopaholic.com and LipGlossandBinky.com.

LOCATION: Kangazoom, 5530 Windward Parkway, Suite 400, Alpharetta, Ga 30004

DATE: Sunday June 3rd, 2012 from 1p.m. to 4p.m.

Please RSVP for the Diaper Drive Summer Jam at http://kangazoomdiaperdrive.eventbrite.com

You may recall that I am doing some work with Windows Phone. I have posted a few times about how much easier my life is because of my phone. Check out my previous posts:

ME TIME: Escape in the Park #windowsphone

FAMILY FUN: Chronicling Our Lives – Tips for Making Everyday Pictures Even Better #windowsphone

On a typical day in my house, the afternoon goes something like this (TEXTS BETWEEN MY HUSBAND AND ME):

Hubs: What are we having for dinner?

Me: Whatever you are cooking?

Hubs: Seriously. What do we have there that we can eat?

Me: Oh I was serious. There is pretty much nothing here.

Hubs: We can go grocery shopping.

Me: We could but we need a list. We cannot shop without a list. Remember the great snack cake incident? {Husband found a great deal on snackcakes and came out with about 20 boxes of them}

Hubs: Thought we weren’t going to speak about that again.

Me: Well that is exactly why we need a list!

At this point, I would usually start the list and we would share it with each other over the course of the afternoon. We would each add the things we need to buy to make dinner that night.

Before heading to the store, I usually pull up a few sales flyers to see what kind of deals are available out there. I look at Publix, Target, Walmart ALDI and Kroger online. Then I decide which store or stores to shop at.

I also see which coupons are available from each of these stores and add those to my phone as well.

Creating and sharing a list with my husband, scouting out store sales ads and adding coupons to my account saves me a lot of time in the grocery shopping process. I do it all from my phone.

Once I get home, I usually check out a few of my favorite recipe sites to see what we are going to make for dinner that night. Once I find the perfect recipe and after making certain I have all of the ingredients on hand, I get cooking.

See how the phone sits right up on my cookbook stand?

My phone has made my life easier in so many ways. Cooking in the kitchen has never been faster or simpler and this is all due to technology.

Just a few days ago, several new ALDI stores opened here in Georgia. The new locations are in Roswell, Woodstock and Sandy Springs.

Have you ever been to a store opening? It is actually pretty exciting. Customers were lined up early. There were balloons and ALDI employees everywhere. Carts were free. Samples were plentiful and people were just generally excited to be there. All customers were given a reusable bag with a few samples as they left the store.

The mayor of Roswell was there to cut the ribbon:

Now let’s take a look inside to see even more exciting things. The produce alone is worth coming to ALDI for but there is so much more that you will want to stay for.

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

I have some favorite foods. They are things that I buy every single time I go to the store. Chocolate is one of those things. Look at this chocolate display:

I tried the Choceur individually wrapped chocolates and YUM! We also tried the Moser-Roth chocolate bars ($1.89 per package) and for my husband who is a huge chocolate snob, this was a total win!! This is his new, favorite chocolate bar.

SPECIAL BUYS

This is always one of my favorite parts about shopping at ALDI. The Special Buys are great deals on things that you might need for your home. For instance, I could definitely use this 4-piece outdoor furniture set from Gardenline ($189.99!).

They had many other special buys of garden stuff that I could definitely use as well. There were pots and pans. They even had a really nice looking grill and camping gear.

Check out the Special Buys on every visit!

SWITCH AND SAVE

While in the store, I had the chance to try the Clancy’s Original Kettle Chips. They were being sampled on the Switch & Save table and they are over $1.20 less than their national competitor. They were delicious. I know that my family would not have known the difference and I would have saved a lot of money.

WHAT YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT ALDI

They source the freshest foods from local farmers. Those tomatoes? They might have just come from the farmer right down the road.

That Greek yogurt that I eat every morning for breakfast? I just discovered it was much less expensive at ALDI as were all the dairy items I buy on a regular basis.

The cheeses….ooooh…cheese. My favorite. I found my daughter’s beloved string cheese for much cheaper and she didn’t know the difference.

The meat is fresh, delicious and the best cuts. They are in leak-proof packaging and backed by that great double guarantee that says if for any reason a customer is not 100 percent satisfied with an ALDI food product, ALDI will gladly replace the product and refund the purchase price.

WHAT I WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT ALDI

Besides all of the above, if you haven’t checked ALDI out yet, you should. You just might be surprised at how much money you can save without sacrificing quality. And if you are like me, you will find some new favorites every time you go.

I was compensated for this post but the views are my own.

Cracker Barrel is celebrating Mom this Mother’s Day! They are offering one lucky reader of The Divine Miss Mommy the chance to win a $130 retail value Mother’s Day gift basket. The basket contains special items from CrackerBarrel’s new Romantic White collection, including a Woven Ribbon Handbag, as well as products to make Mom feel pampered, like J.R. Watkins Hand Cream.

CHECK  OUT THE CRACKER BARREL CELEBRATE MOM SWEEPSTAKES

Between now and May 14, you can enter for a chance to win a $1,000 Cracker Barrel gift card —one for you and one for your mom (3 winners will be chosen). Upload photos of your favorite Mother’s Day gift from Cracker Barrel and earn extra entries!

Learn more and enter by going to www.crackerbarrel.com/celebratemom

WIN A CRACKER BARREL GIFT BASKET HERE {ARV $130}!

To enter, tell me why you could use this fabulous gift basket or who you would give it to. Leave your comment below as your first, mandatory entry. Comment must be relevant and make sense. If you cut and paste another entry on this blog, your entry will not count.

BONUS ENTRIES FOR EXTRA CHANCES TO WIN

5 ENTRIES:

Subscribe by email or RSS Reader

Enter any of my other giveaways – take five entries for each contest you enter.

Blog about the giveaway as a separate post and link to thedivinemissmommy.com. Leave the link to your post in the comment.

Comment on any of my Windows Phone posts here and here. – Take five entries for commenting on each post.

2 ENTRIES:

List this giveaway on any giveaway linky or giveaway site

Add a relevant comment to any non-giveaway posts on my blog

Add the Divine Miss Mommy button to your blogroll or sidebar

Give me K+ on Klout in Social Media, Blogging or Moms and Tweet about it. You can do each topic once per day (so 6 entries per day total). Leave your Klout name in the comments so I can check it on my list.

Add me to one of your Google+ circles. Leave your Google+ name in the comments.

Follow me on Pinterest.

Follow Cracker Barrel on Pinterest.

Join my BlogFrog Community.

1 ENTRY:

Like Cracker Barrel on Facebook

Like The Divine Miss Mommy on Facebook

Like this post by clicking the Facebook “Like” button

Follow  @StacieinAtlanta on Twitter (that’s me!)

Follow @CrackerBarrel on Twitter

Tweet about the contest (up to 4 X per day – Subscribers can tweet every 2 hours or 12 X per day). Tweet MUST have the giveaway item, the word giveaway in the tweet, the hashag #FoodD and a link to this post along with @StacieinAtlanta in it.You must have at least 100 followers and your Twitter account must be a public account (no protected Tweets).

**********************

Giveaway ends 05/27/12 at 11:59 PM EST. Entrants must be 18 or older and located in the US only. Winner to be chosen at random. All entries must be properly recorded in the comments to count (i.e. Link to tweets, Facebook page, etc). Winner will be notified via email and has 24 hours to respond. If winner does not respond, a new winner will be chosen and notified.

**********************

Disclosure: I received the same gift basket.

Mother’s Day is almost here! I love Mother’s Day. It is so fun for me to see what my kids and husband come up with to honor me for that  day. My husband gets creative some years and other years, he leaves it up to the kids. Essentially, I am guaranteed some sort of surprise.

This year,  instead of giving away what they thought moms want, Verizon Wireless actually asked moms for their input in order to do something special for moms for Mother’s Day. The one thing most moms would love is a day off. I mean, who wouldn’t? Along with  a manicure and an evening/dinner out, then you might just have the perfect day.

Does your mom deserve a special day of pampering? Verizon listened and came up with a huge giveaway you can nominate your own mom for!

The Perfect Day Giveaway Sweepstakes Grand Prize Package includes: a manicure, pedicure, massage, facial, laundress, house cleaning, and dinner/restaurant voucher or gift card for $350 (approximate retail value: $1,350).

The Contest begins on May 10 at 12:00 a.m. ET and ends on May 11, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

How to Enter Verizon’s Perfect Day Sweepstakes:

Follow @VerizonWireless on Twitter. Then simply tweet out a message that makes a positive statement about your mom for Mother’s Day in the following format:

My mom is the most incredible woman I aspire to be. #PerfectDay @VerizonWireless http://bit.ly/d3YKmK

PLEASE NOTE: Your entry must include both #PerfectDay and @VerizonWireless be entered in the contest. You can enter 5 times per day during the contest (max 10 times).

The grand prize will go to the best tweet of why your Mom deserves the #perfectday. So tweet away to enter your mom for this amazing giveaway!

 Prizes:

ONE (1) GRAND PRIZE: Perfect Day Giveaway Sweepstakes Grand Prize Package. Prize package includes: manicure, pedicure, massage, facial, laundress, house cleaning, dinner/restaurant voucher or gift card for $350 (terms and conditions of voucher or gift card apply) (selected by sponsor in its sole discretion).

Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”): $1,350.

OFFICIAL RULES

This is a sponsored post.