Doozy E-cards {Review & Giveaway}

It's February, and you know that that means Valentine's Day is coming up quickly! Actually there are several "holidays" ahead of us - St. Patrick's Day, Easter (for those who celebrate), Mother's Day, (my birthday), I mean Memorial Day, ...etc.

Besides all the gifts of candy, jewelry and flowers - cards are always a traditional gift for any holiday. It's even just a great way to tell someone you are thinking of them.

Doozycards offers an incredible selection of electronic cards for any and all occasions. Whether you just want to tell someone you are thinking of them, say Happy Birthday, or say I Love You - they have it all. Doozycards creates all their own animations and in a variety of styles, such as the cute sentimental cards like Valentine Puppies and funny cards like Hot Kisses.

I have so many friends and family that have moved away from the area, and unfortunately life gets busy and goes by way too fast.  When I don't have time to call or send a long winded email - I love the ability to send an E-card with a really nice message on it just to say hi.

The president of Doozy cards is a dynamic woman and mother of 3 boys, and when you sign up for a Premier Membership a portion of the proceeds go to St. Vincent Meals on Wheels to feed homebound elders. So the company itself is charitable and, I think, shows a lot of compassion.

Normally there is a $19.95 Premier Membership fee, but Doozycards has been generous enough to offer 2 of my readers a one year Premier Membership for free.  Once you are a member and logged on to their website you can set up reminders for yourself for upcoming birthdays, anniversary's, or special occasions. 

So here are the details on how to enter the giveaway - 2 people will receive a one year Premier Membership for free!

To Enter to Win:  You must go to Doozycard's site and tell me what your favorite e-card is.

Extra Entries (available after the mandatory entry above is completed; please leave a separate comment for each entry in order for them to be counted).

1 Extra Entry (per method) Doozycards on Twitter and/or Like them on Facebook.

1 Extra Entry if you follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway by copying and pasting the tweet below and leaving me the link. Tweet daily for an extra entry every day!

WIN a one year Premier Membership to Doozycards.com! http://bit.ly/gWeMiI #amomhavingfun #giveaway

2 Extra Entries (per follow method) if you follow me publicly with Google Friend Connect, subscribe to my RSS feed, subscribe to A Mom Having Fun by email or become a fan on Facebook.

3 Extra Entries if you put my cute button up on your blog. Please leave an address where it can be found.

3 Extra Entries if you blog about this giveaway linking back to A Mom Having Fun. Please leave an address where it can be found.

Giveaway will end on February 11th at 11:59pm CST. Do me the favor of leaving an email address or making absolutely sure it is visible in your profile, I have to have a way to contact the winner. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to contact me or respond to notification or a new winner will be chosen.

A big thank you to Doozycards.com for providing a one year membership for this review, as well as a one year Premier membership for two lucky giveaway winners. The opinions are 100% mine  - to read more click here.

Tuesday Blog Hops!

Happy Tuesday!

Weekend Wrap-up

This weekend was rather dull - spent the weekend inside with sick kids still. Anna just seems to be progressing from one thing to the next. She now has the cough that Ethan has had and a fever. Ethan is finally over his fever (I think) but still has a cough. Ugh

My husband is back fully partaking in both of his jobs...he worked 60 at the fire department this past weekend starting Friday morning.

Even though we did spend the weekend inside, I'm still not complaining - I really like to hibernate when it comes to cold weather. I just feel bad for the kids not feeling good.

So I am in Illinois and we are supposed to get the mother load of snow dumped on us starting tomorrow afternoon. Between tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday) and Wednesday afternoon they are calling for ~18 feet. I think I'm done with the snow thing now. :-) Hopefully the kids will feel better and get to go play in it though!

I am very excited that I have finally gotten two sponsored posts and I have some upcoming giveaways. I am starting one tomorrow, February 1st. Do you believe it's already February tomorrow??

Have a great night!

Love,
Jodi

Happy Sunday!

Since it is Sunday - the day of Sabbath, here is just a little reminder of what not to do:

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!" Isaiah 43:18,19a (NIV)  

This is a good reminder for me since I tend to let things bother me and dwell on them way too much and too long.  I am trying to learn to just let go of my worries and know that it will be okay and everything will be as it should

Enjoy your day!

Here are some Sunday Hops that I'm participating in:

Valentine's Day Is Around The Corner

I can't believe January is almost over and Valentine's day is almost upon us!  Have you started thinking of something special you would like for that day?  Well, if you are all about jewelry - you may want to check out the Valentine's Day Sale at Allurez.com. Up to 55% off!. I don't really go too many places these days - but I love rings!

Allurez Jewelers is located in NYC, and provides a large assortment of high quality fine jewelry, designer jewelry, engagement rings, bridal jewelry, and certified diamonds. They carry a full line of rings, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, pendants, and much more. They also carry men’s jewelry such as cufflinks, wedding bands, pendants, and other high quality items. They offer an easy return policy, free insured shipping, and 100% satisfaction guarantee.


There is a beautiful Oval Amethyst and Diamond ring in 14 kt white gold.  What's neat with the website is if you hover over the item - it will give you all the details.

So, tell me if you've started making plans for Valentine's Day.  Do you celebrate?  And if so, do you go somewhere special?  Or do stay home and do something special there - like a special dinner for two?  Or, do you feel it's just another "Hallmark" holiday?

For us, we used to celebrate it pre-kids.  Now it just seems to come and go before we realize it.  The smaller of the yearly holiday's we do celebrate are Mother's Day and Father's Day.  Of course, it's not to say I wouldn't except any one of the items of jewelry at Allurez!

Also, let me know what item of jewelry is your favorite!

Having Fun Blog Hop ~ Week #4

Welcome to the Having Fun Blog Hop! This hop has been created by A Mom Having Fun. Thank you, in advance, for joining my new weekly hop! I hope you have "fun"! :-)

<a href="http://amomhavingfun.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v628/j_horsley/FunBlogHop.jpg" /></a>

The rules are simple:

1. Follow A Mom Having Fun via Google Friend Connect.
2. Leave a comment if you are a new follower so I can follow back.
3. Link up your blog every week, and follow as many blogs as you want!

You don't have to post the above Having Fun Blog Hop button, but it would be greatly appreciated and would help spread the word about this hop.  :-)

Check out the post below to enroll in the 4-week online course Profitable Blogging for Beginners...for $5!

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Thursday Blog Hopin'!

Wednesday Hops

Rachel's Giveaways and Living on Love and Giveaways

Trying To Live A More Frugal Life

Have you ever lived beyond your means?  I think most of us have, it's an easy habit to get in to...for some of us.  Just whip out the old credit card...and think, I'll pay it back at the next payday.  Next payday comes up and oops, got other stuff to pay off , I'll catch up with it the next payday.  That can go on forever, well at least until there is no more credit on the credit card and then you realize just how much you are living beyond your means!

We've had a real eye-opener the last few months.  Up until 4 years ago we both worked 2 full-time positions and, as long as were both working - we chugged along just fine financially.  Although we have never been good at "saving" money.  I know it's important and we've always strived to do that but we've never had enough extra money to do so.  At least I didn't think we did - honestly, if we really lived more frugally - we would have.

Fast forward 4 years, I have not held a full-time positions since then, although I was on unemployment for 3 years.  I guess if there can ever be a "good" reason for the economy to take a dive it was the extension in all the unemployment.  That money really kept us afloat.  What was dumb is that I still never saved any of that money.  Not sure what I was thinking...money would just miraculously appear once unemployment ran out??

Well, I honestly deep-down expected my home business to be in the position to take over financially once unemployment ended.  I didn't really take into account that having infant twins would probably hinder that...a lot!  Now I need to consider taking care of the twins as my full-time job and work my business in the evening, at least when my husband at work.  The days he does not get called in then  I can be more flexible, but when he's not home - it can be impossible.

They twins have been sick lately and have been very needy (that's putting it mildly).  Yesterday it took 3 hours just to drink 1 1/2 cups of coffee!  Isn't that crazy? 

In this whole process of having to learn to scrape by on one full-time income and then whatever I can bring in, I have used it as a time to learn.  I have never been a big spender on things such as clothes and that, but I have just in general not really been very good at following a budget and not getting something because we don't have the cash.

Now, we have no choice.  I have now learned if you don't have the cash...you don't get it!  There are other thing's that I have done to help with our finances.  We refinanced the house (saving $260 a year), changed insurance companies (saving $300 a year), got rid of the Oberweis milk delivery - awesome hormone free milk (saving about $480 a year) - plus other things such as coloring my own hair.

I colored my own hair for the first time right before Thanksgiving and it turned out better then I thought.  It was much darker then I wanted it to be, but once I got used to it I actually liked it.  It turned out to be a nice winter color!  So today I got a lighter color, and I'm going to go color my hair in just little bit!  I'm anxious to see how it turns out.  I actually like coloring my hair!  :)  At least I do until the first time I turn it green!

Love to all!
Jodi  (I really need to create one of those cool signature's!)

Do Not Miss This Opportunity!

Are you a beginner blogger who wants to monetize your blog?  Or, are you a seasoned blogger with a monetized blog not getting the results you want?  Don't miss the opportunity to take a 4 week online course titled "Profitable Blogging For Beginners" for $5 (over $100 in value).

So What Will You Get From This Online Class For $5?

• The Class Manual – 60 pages of incredible information
• 4 weekly online class sessions you can ask your questions and get personalized feedback - every Tuesday, 9 pm - 11 pm EST
• A FREE Year of Web hosting! Blogelina has partnered with GoDaddy.com and is providing a  complimentary year of web hosting for everyone who registers for this on-line class - normally an $84 value!
• Save yourself a lot of time, trouble, and money – learn from my own experiences what to do and not to do!

Can't make all the Tuesday night classes?  Not to worry, Blogelina will make follow-up notes and a copy of each class presentation available to you via email the day following the class.

Blogelina made this a very affordable course to allow you the opportunity to learn from her experience.  You have the ability to apply these nuggets of information to your own blog.

So What Type Of Information Is Included In This 60-Page Class Manual?

• How to get your blog started on the right foot
• Questions to ask as you begin blogging
• How to choose a web host for your blog
• Why your blog design is so important
• 9 different ways to easily monetize your blog
• How to draw visitors to your blog
• and much more!

On top of everything else, if you are not 100% satisfied with this course just let Blogelina know within 30 days of the last class and she will give you a complete refund...allowing you to keep the manual and your free one year of web hosting.

This is too awesome of a deal to pass up - sign up today!

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Tuesday Hopping! 

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend was spent mostly caring for the sick...children.  'Tis the season, right?  This year actually hasn't been so bad with colds as in years past.  The year Anna and Ethan were born they were given shots to immunize against RSV, since they were born 8 weeks premature they needed the extra protection.  That shot also really built up their immunity for that flu season and, amazingly, they did not get any colds at all!  Since then, every year they've been making up for lost time with all they colds they've gotten.  Last year I counted 9 colds!  At least they are building up their immunity, right?  This is only the second cold so far this year.

Anna had a fever through Friday.  Yesterday (Saturday) she didn't have a fever but she (and Megan) started getting a really bad cold  What makes it worse is, I still can't get Anna to blow her nose.  She keeps blowing air out through her mouth instead of her nose.  For some reason I get the feeling she's playing me.  But it gets so messy and I think it tends to settle more in the chest.

So this morning Anna woke up with a bloody nose.  It's really not too unusual for her.  She and Megan seem to be the one's to have more of a tendency to get those.  But this one really made me a bit nervous.  It seemed to finally slow down after about 15 minutes only to all of a sudden start gushing...I couldn't get it to stop.  I was starting to get a little panicky - you know those thoughts going through my head - so I was able to talk Anna in to letting dad take over by telling her he is really good at making these stop.  I didn't want her to see me getting nervous so I thought it best to let him take over and I could go get her bedding washed.  Besides, he's the paramedic!  Of course he was able to get it to stop.  Thank you God!

I then went to church and left the kids home with my husband.  Since Anna and Megan both have colds and were coughing I figured they may as well stay home.  And if I was leaving Megan, and especially Anna, then I really needed to leave Ethan too.  Church was great - I love my church.  It has cultivated such an amazing community of people.

After church I went home and all the kids were dressed and playing very nicely and ... no coughing.  Yay!  Mornings and nighttime seem to be the hardest time's with the coughing.  We hung out at home for a bit and then watched The Bears get their butts handed to them with some friends for the afternoon.

As we were taking the kids up to bed, Anna said she wanted her temperature taken.  Temperature...100.2.  Low, but it is a temperature.  Ethan then wanted his taken, I was shocked to see it was at 101.7!  Poor little guy was coughing like crazy in his bed too.  I put a really flat pillow under his pillow just to elevate him a little, it seemed to have helped in the past - but wasn't helping so much this time.  It's so hard when they get those coughs, there isn't really anything you can do except humidity and lots of water.

Even though the kids were sick and we didn't really do anything very exciting, I really didn't mind not going anywhere.  It has been so cold that I've really had no desire to go out and do anything anyway!  It was actually nice to just spend the day in our jammies!

Also, I am very excited about starting a fabulous giveaway this week from doozycards.com.  Watch for that to start!

Monday Blog Hops

Social Parade On Friday

Friday Blog Hops

Friday Blog Hops I am participating in:

http://simplystacie.net/fun-follow-friday-7/