Dial Coconut Water Body Wash and Soft Scrub Advanced Surface Giveaways!

I have two more great products from Purex to giveaway! The first giveaway is for Dial Coconut Water Body Wash. It has coconut water in it which is known for its natural hydration and health benefits. The body wash has a fresh floral and coconut scent. When it came, I was worried it would have an overpowering scent, like super coconutty tanning oil. But, this scent is light and pleasant. My whole family has been enjoying the body wash. In addition to, you know, bathing, with it, the kids have been using it for awesome smelling bubble baths, and I used it to make diy foaming hand soap. Ten thumbs up from the Yeager family! Two lucky winners will also get to try it! Just check out the Rafflecopter widget at the end of the post! And, Purex is having a Healthier Skin, Healthier You Sweepstakes with lots of prizes to help introduce this new product.



The other new product that Purex sent me is Soft Scrub Advanced Surface. This is a rinse free gel perfect for cleaning premium surfaces like marble or granite counter tops, stainless steel, and glass cook tops. It's easy to use; just apply it to whatever you want to clean and then wipe it away with a damp cloth. I used it to clean my stovetop. It worked super fast and didn't leave any residue. It also didn't have a harsh, chemical smell. I'm sure it will be a regular in my kitchen cleaning arsenal. Three lucky winners will be able to try it too! Enter using the second Rafflecopter widget and the bottom of this post!

Don't forget to enter both giveaways! They each have their own Rafflecopter. Be sure to check out my other giveaways for Purex laundry detergent here.

Contest rules and legal stuff: Use the Rafflecopter widgets below to enter. The first entry is a mandatory follow the blog entry. Leave your email address so I can contact you if you win! Earn a bonus second entry by leaving a comment saying how you'd use the product. I will draw the winners on Sunday, March 24. I received these products for free from Purex. As a Purex Insiders blogger, I agreed to try the product and post a review on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Purex. This giveaway is open to U.S. Residents only.

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Purex with Crystals and Purex Natural Elements Giveaway!

Cory is finishing his thesis this semester, so I haven't had the computer at home very often the past few weeks. This means I have winners to announce from the last two giveaways and four more giveaways to post! I'm going to post two giveaways here and do the other two on a separate post. But first, the winners from the giveaways that ended last week.

Honey Bunches of Oats:
Stephanie D. and Donna C.

Soft Scrub
Stephanie G., Elis B., and Jessica

I have sent out emails to all the winners and will mail your prizes to you soon! Congrats!



Purex has been sending me so many good things to try recently! They just sent me two bottles of their newest laundry detergents, Purex with Crystals and Purex Natural Elements Tropical Splash.

Purex with Crystals has all the great features of regular Purex detergents with the addition of the fabric softening power and scent of Purex Crystals. Also, new to all Purex detergents for 2013, it has DirtLift Action, which deep cleans clothes to get dirt out. To promote this new product, Purex is holding an Experience the Enchantment Sweepstakes.

Purex Natural Elements Tropical Splash has all the cleaning power of regular Purex, but it is made naturally sourced ingredients like pineapple, coconut, and exotic flowers. It is hypoallergenic, dye free, and has new DirtLift Action. And, you can enter the Tropical Trio Sweepstakes that is part of the promotion for the Tropical Splash detergent!




Addie is potty training right now, so both of these detergents have been in heavy use at our house the past week or so. (She refuses to wear a pull up at night, so there's been a lot of bedding to wash. She'll probably hate me when she's older for sharing that.) I'm really happy with both detergents. They both have light, fresh scents that aren't obnoxious or overpowering. And they get the laundry clean, which is what's most important.

Because Purex is awesome, I get to give six of you a chance to try these new products! Three winners will each get a coupon for a free bottle of Purex with Crystals, and three winners will each get a coupon for a free bottle of Purex Natural Elements! There will be two separate Rafflecopter widgets, one for each contest, so be sure to enter both!

Contest rules and legal stuff: Use the Rafflecopter widgets below to enter. The first entry is a mandatory follow the blog entry. Leave your email address so I can contact you if you win! Earn a bonus second entry by leaving a comment saying how you'd use the product. I will draw the winners on Sunday, March 24. I received these products for free from Purex. As a Purex Insiders blogger, I agreed to try the product and post a review on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Purex. This giveaway is open to U.S. Residents only.

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Due to a germ invasion at our house, all of the kiddos missed out on the Read Across America Day/Dr. Seuss's birthday celebrations at their schools. So, on Saturday night, the kids and I had our own little celebration! It started with Jack reading One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish to the little kids while I got dinner started. Then, while it was cooking, we made some Seuss-y crafts. We made truffula tree crafts inspired by this idea. (Harry asked if they could paint. I grudgingly said yes. As I was getting the super messy washable paints off the craft shelf, I ran across the $.88 watercolor set I bought at back to school time and forgot about. Painting with less mess and happy kids! Yay!) And we made paper "Cat in the Hat" hats. (We used some of Addie's stretchy headbands instead of making paper bands. Jack was VERY distressed at the thought of anyone thinking he wanted to wear a girl headband. So, for the record, Jack did not want to wear a girl headband and only used one as a hat holder.)



After the crafts, we had a special "picnic" dinner in the living room while watching The Lorax. The kids are always super excited when they get to eat in the living room, so this was probably their favorite part! Our Dr. Seuss themed menu included: green eggs and ham sandwiches, (deviled eggs with the filling dyed green and a modified version of these delicious ham sandwiches that were not green. Even though, when I thought he might be able to go to school on Friday, I made Harry promise that he would take at least one bite of the green eggs and ham at school and made him watch a video of Green Eggs and Ham on YouTube since we don't have the book{Sorry Dr. Seuss!}, the thought of eating green ham kind of weirded me out too. I digress.) We also had Cat in the Hat fruit kabobs that Jack called thing-a-ma-bobs, a "green egg" pudding treat, Cat in the Hat Jello cups, and some veggies. (No theme or anything. They just needed to eat some veggies.) The fruit kabobs and pudding "eggs" were the favorites. We had a great time at our impromptu party! I got most of the ideas here.

Soft Scrub All Purpose Giveaway!

I have another great giveaway form Purex! This time they sent me Soft Scrub Total All Purpose Cleaner. It can be used in the bathroom and kitchen on sinks, faucets, tile, showers, and tubs. It has a fresh lemon scent and is newly formulated to have more whitening power and less residue than before. I literally just got done scrubbing my bath tub with it. I'm really happy with how easily it cleaned the tub. The bathroom has a nice lemony scent instead of a harsh bleachy scent. Here are some before and after pictures of my tub! (That was a joke. There will be no such pictures.)

Thanks to Purex, you can find out for yourself how great Soft Scrub products are! Three lucky winners will be chosen to each get a coupon good for one free Soft Scrub product of their choice. So try the all purpose cleaner or try any of their other products! You can also sign up for their One Surface at A Time® Sweepstakes. Prizes include a year's supply of Soft Scrub and $1000! Use the rafflecopter widget below to enter the giveaway. Good luck! And don't forget to sign up for my Honey Bunches of Oats Giveaway!

Contest rules and legal stuff: Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. The first entry is a mandatory follow the blog entry. Leave your email address so I can contact you if you win! Earn a bonus second entry by leaving a comment saying how you'd use the product. I will draw the winners on Monday, March 11. I received this product for free from Purex. As a Purex Insiders blogger, I agreed to try the product and post a review on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Purex. This giveaway is open to U.S. Residents only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Honey Bunches of Oats Giveaway!

The nice people at Purex sent me a box of the newest flavor of Honey Bunches of Oats to try. The new flavor is Tropical Blends - Mango Coconut. It has all the yummy stuff that regular Honey Bunches of Oats has, with a new tropical twist. There are mango flavored flakes, real coconut shavings, and coconut flavored granola clusters. My kiddos were excited to try this new variety. Jack has been interested in mangoes for some reason lately, and Harry has been asking about when we are going to Hawaii, (I wish,) so it came at just the right time. :)

The good news for you is that two lucky winners will each get a coupon for a box of free Honey Bunches of Oats! You can try out the new Tropical Blends, or use it for another flavor that you already love. And, they are having a Tropical Trio Sweepstakes to help kick off the new product. One of the prizes is a trip to Hawaii, so maybe Harry's wish will come true. ;)

Contest rules and legal stuff: Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. The first entry is a mandatory follow the blog entry. Leave your email address so I can contact you if you win! Earn a bonus second entry by leaving a comment saying how you'd use the product. I will draw the winners on Sunday, March 10. I received this product for free from Purex. As a Purex Insiders blogger, I agreed to try the product and post a review on my blog. My opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Purex. This giveaway is open to U.S. Residents only.

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One Year Later

This past weekend marked one year since Harry first got SJS. In some ways it seems hard to believe that it all started that long ago. But looking at him playing and being happy sometimes makes it seem like it's impossible that it even happened at all. Friday was the one year mark of him being hospitalized, followed up the next day by being intubated and transferred to St. Louis. We decided instead of wallowing in unhappy memories, to create new, happy ones. So, rather than recount all the details while reflecting on where we were this time last year, I want to talk about a positive part of the whole experience.

Having a critically ill child is probably one of the most difficult things a family can go through. It is physically, emotionally, and financially draining. Thankfully, Ronald McDonald House is able to help with all of those needs. We have had the opportunity to stay at two different Ronald McDonald Houses: when Jack was born and when Harry was sick. Though the houses were different, the basics were the same. They provide very, very affordable lodging to families with children in hospitals far from home. (Think less than $10 a night!) And, no one is turned away for not being able to pay. In addition to that, every night, a volunteer group comes and cooks a free dinner for the families staying in the house. There are also snacks and other food available for the families at no cost. There is also a free laundry room at each house. In St. Louis, the hospital has a Ronald McDonald House lounge in the hospital. It had showers (way nicer than the ones in the family lounge at the PICU,) snacks, computers, books, and much more to help keep parents comfortable while staying with their sick children. They also had free laundry facilities. Often, the awesome volunteers would switch out the laundry and fold it for the parents. The Ronald McDonald House Charity works hard to meet the most basic needs of families while they are going through one of the worst times they will likely have in their lives.

I think that when people donate to charities, they sometimes wonder if the contribution really helps the people it's supposed to help. You can rest assured that donations to the Ronald McDonald house really are making a difference in the lives of the people they help. If you'd like to make a contribution to this worthy charity, there are many ways you can help. The easiest way is to drop your change in those collection boxes in every McDonald's restaurant. Last year, those boxes collected more than $27 million to help families of sick kids! If you live near a Ronald McDonald House, they could use donations of travel sized toiletries, toys, and food. A more specific list can be found here. You can also get a group together and volunteer to cook dinner one night. There were church groups, co-workers from an insurance office, and just groups of friends wanting to help out that provided meals during our two stays. More information on volunteering can be found here. Doing something small can really add up to help families.

Looking back at the past year, I want to again thank everyone who has prayed for Harry and helped our family in so many ways. We could not have hung in there without you and really appreciate all of you. Thank you!!! Hopefully, this time next year I will be writing about how this is all a distant memory :)



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An Update on Harry

Harry had an appointment with his regular eye doctor last week. This seems like the easiest way to update everyone who wants to know what's going on.

A few weeks ago, Harry had another tear in his left cornea. The good news is that it is all healed up. Unfortunately, it has caused even more imperfections in the already damaged cornea. In December, the cornea specialist recommended the use of contacts for the next ten to fifteen years to help regain his vision. (You can read the details of that here.) Cory and I took him to several appointments trying to get the contact in, and it wasn't going well at all. I went into last week's appointment with a whole presentation of why the contacts weren't a good idea for Harry. (Trying to put them in made tearing the cornea more likely, it seemed more invasive than the possibility of having two surgeries fifteen years apart, etc.) As I started to launch into my arguments, the doctor told me that I didn't need to convince her, because she was one hundred percent on the same page as me. So, that was a big relief. It made me appreciate, once again, what a great doctor she is. It's nice when some positive things happen at the appointments. :)

On the less positive end of things, a few eyelashes have returned in his right eye, which has been relatively problem free since August. They are scratching his cornea, though thankfully, not in an area that is affecting his vision. It is pretty uncomfortable for him, and increases his risk of an infection. So, they will need to be dealt with. His right eye hasn't had any vision problems, so it's important to get this taken care of before it starts to cause problems. These are lashes that have already been removed with electrolysis and have come back. The chance of lashes returning is about one in three. Since these didn't respond to electrolysis the first time, the two most likely solutions are cryogenically freezing the lashes, which has a one in ten chance of the lashes returning, or doing the reshaping/skin graft surgery that he had on his left eye in August. (You can read the details of that here) Harry has an appointment with the surgeon in about a week and a half. We haven't seen him since late September, and though he's very nice, we parted hoping we wouldn't need to see each other ever again. So, we'll know more about what will happen with the right eye after we meet with him. The dilemma in what treatment to choose is that if the eyelashes keep coming back, he will need to have surgery over and over again, which would probably lead up to him having to do the more intense skin graft surgery. So, do we want to potentially put him through several smaller surgeries and still do the bigger one, or skip straight to the bigger one, which could possibly be unnecessary. What Cory and I would like is for Harry to have to do the least invasive and the least amount of surgery possible. Hopefully, the surgeon will know just what to do!


For the left eye, Harry has an appointment with the cornea specialist on Monday to reassess the contact situation. The three likely possible outcomes of that appointment are: that he'll say to keep going with the contacts, he'll decide to do a surgery on the cornea using a laser to reshape it and fix the imperfections, or he'll recommend a cornea transplant. (Harry's regular doctor assures me that the last one is very, very unlikely and would be the last resort if the other options didn't work.) No great solutions here, but the reshaping surgery is the one we are kind of hoping for. It has the best chance of being permanent and not super invasive.

So, that's what's going on. We appreciate everyone who prays for Harry. His specific prayer needs right now would be that the doctors are able to make the best decisions, and that the treatments are successful. Also, once we figure out how to get the left cornea into better shape, we would appreciate prayers that the vision in his left eye will return. His left eye vision is 20/200, so while he can see some out of it, it is considered legally blind. Prayers for him to not be uncomfortable, and to recover well from the treatments the doctors decide on would be great, too! Again, thank you so much to everyone who has been praying for him all this time!