The contest is closed and the winner has been contacted.  Thanks to everyone that participated!  It was so much fun!  A Big Congratulations to Jennifer Neal!  She is the winner!  She wrote:

Jennifer Neal said...

Lucky Charms and Cheerios, new follower here :)

I am oh so very excited!  I get to host my very first giveaway and for one of my favorite stores, Safeway!

Okay, here's the scoop:

The Safeway family of stores (which includes Dominick´s, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Vons, and Genuardi´s) is making it simple to give back with "2 Ways 2 Earn" cash for your schools with Box Tops for Education and the "10% Goes Back to Schools" program. To help your local schools even further just look for the "10% Goes Back to Schools" yellow school bus tags on over 2,000 of your favorite items throughout Safeway from August 11th - September 14th. When you purchase participating products with your Club Card, Safeway will give 10% of the purchase price to the local school of your choice. Here´s how it works: Check your receipt from August 11 - September 14. The total will be updated each time you shop. Beginning on September 18, a redemption code will be printed at the bottom of your receipt. Visit backtoschools.escrip.com before October 13 to choose your favorite participating local school, then simply enter your redemption code to make your donation. To learn more about Box Tops for Education and Safeway´s "10% Goes Back to Schools" program, visit www.2ways2earn.com. And while you´re there, don´t forget to enter the Safeway Bonus Box Tops Sweepstakes for a chance to win 1,000 Bonus Box Tops for the participating school of your choice!  Also, check out Box Tops for Education on Facebook today! Visit Box Tops for Education on Facebook to "Like" the program and keep up with the latest news from Box Tops. Safeway and General Mills, through "MyBlogSpark" provided me with a $25 Safeway gift card in addition to a Bonus Box Tops certificate with a value of 50 Bonus Box Tops. I'm heading out today to do some shopping and rack up those Boxtops for my kids' school! Safeway and General Mills, through MyBlogSpark is also offering a  $25 Safeway gift card (also valid at Dominick's, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Vons, and Genuardi's) that you can use to purchase your favorite Box Top items, in addition to a Bonus Box Tops certificate with a value of 50 Bonus Box Tops! The Safeway gift card, Bonus Box Tops certificate, information and giveaway were all given to me from Safeway and General Mills through MyBlogSpark.  The opinions are all my own! Ü To win: Add a comment on which Box Tops for Education products you will be looking out for when you shop.  Also, please follow my blog.  Contest ends on August 11, 2010.   Winner will be chosen randomly from all correct entries.  One entry per person.  Good luck!

Life is settling back to normal after a tumultuous couple of weeks. But it doesn't feel quite "normal". I'm calling it the new normal. The new normal consists of worrying a bit more about my daughter's diabetes cuz we got a glimpse of what the future may entail with her disease. It consists of not being able to call my Dad when I need advice on anything mechanical, technical, or just because I need my Dad. The new normal involves getting teary-eyed at little things that remind me of Dad... like Dr. Pepper and school buses. It consists of a "refined" outlook on life. I feel like my priorities are where they should be, but I've refined them. For example, I've always known how important family is, but now I know that they're essential. That it's the every day, day in, day out moments in life that define who we are... and the things we miss the most when a loved one is gone. The new normal is filled with the love of dear friends. It was always there, I just recognize it more now.

So I guess I'll settle in to this new normal... until something happens to once again, redefine what "normal" is.

Life definitely tilted this last week. Last Saturday my Dad was killed in a motorcycle accident. The next day, my daughter was admitted to the ICU in DKA ( a life-threatening illness related to her type 1 Diabetes). I spent the week camping out in ICU, and keeping in touch with my family through phone calls as they planned the funeral.

While it was an incredibly stressful and emotional week, I learned some important life lessons. I learned how vital family is. I absolutely would not have made it through without the loving support of my family. I learned that love is eternal, and can be felt just as strong even when your loved one has returned home. I learned that friends are your strength and your joy in life. Their love, prayers, and encouragement were like rays of sunshine during a stormy week. I learned to not sweat the small stuff, because most of it is just small stuff. And most importantly, I learned how incredibly blessed I am because I have family, love, faith, and friends in abundance in my life!

My daughter starts school in about one week. My son starts school in about two weeks. What mixed emotions those thoughts bring. I love my kids! I love being with them! I love their spontaneity! I love their larger than life personalities!

But I also love a clean house, a bit of a routine, and yes... dare I say it? sometimes Quiet! Summer vacation does not lend itself to any of these things.

When the school year is winding to a close, I yearn for summer vacation. When summer vacation is winding to a close, I'm ready for school to start. I guess I'm glad I get to experience both... the crazyness and lazyness of summer, and the routine and regimen of school.

The constant in all this is my kids. I love spending summers with them, and I love watching them head off to school, and even more, walking through the door at the end of the school day. And one day, I'll even miss the mess and chaos... I think.

My son has the most vivid imagination! Because of his special needs he has a lot of trouble going to sleep and staying asleep. Well, right now he is on a space kick. Can I just toot my horn a little? Last night he was bouncing off the walls (literally) instead of going to sleep. So I came up with a brilliant idea! I went into his room and informed him that I was turning his bed into a hyper sleep chamber. He thought that sounded very cool! So we folded up some blankets and I had him lay down. He told me how many hours he needed of hyper sleep and I "programmed" it into his sleep chamber with an older remote control I had. I then snuggled him in, did a quick medical scan (same remote control!) and then hit the hyper sleep button. Can you believe, it worked?! My son was asleep in minutes and actually for the first time in years slept through the night! Wahoo for the hyper sleep chamber! We'll ride this idea as long as we can, then I guess we'd better invent something else.... any ideas?

Sorry, for the long absence on the blog. I had an Ovarian Cyst rupture and it definately took me awhile to get back on my feet. Today is the first day I feel like me again. I really enjoy the feeling! This illness has turned my thoughts to so many of my dear friends who deal with chronic illness and pain on a daily basis. I so admire their strength of character, and their tenacity. Pain can change your personality, can alter the way you view life. Yet, my dear friends get through every day with their personality intact, their bright outlook on life intact, and their room-brightening smiles intact.

To you amazing friends, thank you for being such a shining example to me, of who I want to become. I love you, and I'm here when you need me!

I belong to this really cool site called bzzagent.com They send you out free products to try, and then ask you to spread the buzz, whether good or bad. It's completely free, and I have the opportunity to share my opinion, and you all know how I like to do that! Well, my newest Bzzz is Cover Girl Completely Ageless makeup. I'm approaching that age where "ageless" becomes more important. Some makeup now actually makes me look a little older because it settles into my wrinkles (gasp! I actually have wrinkles! When did that happen?)

The Completely Ageless Makeup actually hides the wrinkles and it stays on and looks great a long time! I actually put it on in the morning, went through my whole day, including a sweaty play practice, and I was still looking great by 10 pm that night! I've never had makeup last like that! I really do love this product! I thought I'd pass that on for what it's worth since I know some of you are also approaching that age when "ageless" is much more appealing!