Check this new find I found on Etsy — to hold my credit cards!

This year, we’re using our American Express Card as a tool for helping me set and stick to a budget. And – whenever I use this card, (anything from gas, grociers, donations to charities.) Think about that! Charity donations too!

American Express has challenged me to stay on budget this year by using a combination of a gift card and Membership Rewards points to shop for five people on my holiday shopping list – and I can use my points to shop not only through the shopAmEx site, but also places like Amazon, and even gift cards through stores like Gap, Old Navy to Bath & Body Works.

In addition to redeeming Membership Rewards, American Express has challenged me to shop at least one small business. This is where I favor my friend Amy’s little Etsy Shop, Littlealoutte — full of handmade wooden toys… the quiet, lovely ones. There are plenty of Etsy businesses that have some of the most amazing collections – along with lots of small restaurants and boutiques around the neighborhood.

Right now, I’m giving away a $250 AMEX gift card. You can enter by leaving a comment, here.
I collect reward points. We earn one point for virtually every dollar we spend, there’s no limit to the points we can earn – and there are no expiration dates.

Finding inspiration for what to buy can be a challenge. I’ve found help in a surprising place: If you click on the American Express Facebook page, you’ll find a tab for Membership Rewards. Here, card members share stories on what they’ve purchased (steaks, TVs, Ipod Touch) with their Membership Rewards points. Not only that, the site showcases the best deals to be found on the  membershiprewards.com/specials, with great deals on select rewards like electronics, travel, entertainment, home accessories and more.

How to Enter: Leave a comment with a tip for staying on budget when holiday shopping.

Earn Extra Entries – valid only after completing first mandatory entry. Leave a separate comment for each you do, please.

Write a post linking this post on your own blog.

Follow American Express AND Susiej on Twitter and tweet this giveaway. Leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post. You may do this every day, just leave a link in the comments when you do.

Like Susiej on Facebook.
Share this post on your Facebook or comment on our Facebook wall  and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post.  You may do this every day, just leave a link in the comments when you do.

Subscribe to Susiej in email or RSS.

Giveaway ends December 24, midnight PST. Open to US residents only.

This giveaway is open to US Residents.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Shop! Make the most of your card and make sure you’reregistered to earn Membership Rewards with your American Express. Stay on budget by using points you’ve earned and don’t forget to shop and support small businesses this holiday season.

And the winner is! The Knapp Family!! Congratulations!

There’s nothing placing a Christmas Wreath on your front door to get you into the spirit of giving that front door a fresh coat of paint — or maybe even a new color.

Home Depot introduced me to a new paint by Glidden,  Glidden Trim & Door, which is an industry-first paint that is specifically formulated for interior and exterior trim, doors, cabinetry and more, and amazingly leaves behind no drips or brush marks.

This paint has exceptional high gloss, no brush mark finish, that yields highly reflective surfaces that will help Christmas lights shine brighter and holiday accents stand out. As wreaths adorn doors, stockings hang above fireplaces, and lights decorate the interior and exterior of the home, Glidden Trim & Door provides a unique way to decorate for the holiday season.

Enter to win your own Home Depot $20 gift card by telling me what new color you would paint your front door.

How to Enter: Leave a comment with telling me what color you would paint your front door, if you were going to change it.

Earn Extra Entries – valid only after completing first mandatory entry. Leave a separate comment for each you do, please.

Write a post linking this post on your own blog.

Follow AND Susiej on Twitter and tweet this giveaway. Leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post. You may do this every day, just leave a link in the comments when you do.

Like Susiej on Facebook.
Share this post on your Facebook or comment on our Facebook wall  and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post.  You may do this every day, just leave a link in the comments when you do.

Subscribe to Susiej in email or RSS.

Giveaway ends December 24, midnight PST. Open to US residents only.

This giveaway is open to US Residents.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Busy little boys carry that hint of the fresh outdoors, mingled with the fresh, sweet smell of dirt. Then, there comes that inevitable day, when the sweet smell is overpowered by something much more omnipotent and sour smelling. Almost overnight, your little boy will take on the odor of a gym locker. With my first son, I found myself denying this first harbinger of puberty, by telling myself that my washing machine must need bleaching… or maybe it was simply time to switch laundry detergents.

While we can read books, and visit websites to find the proper words, the timing, and tact to use when telling our kids, that they basically “stink” – the truth is, we, as parents, need to get ourselves ready, emotionally, for the fact that our baby is just not a baby anymore. Before I could approach this subject with my child, I needed to get my heart and head wrapped around the fact I was now a mother of a teenager.

The second step, was to get my facts straight. How can I broach this subject without hurting my son’s feelings? What is the difference between antiperspirant, and deodorant? Is one harmful? Really? Can he get Alzheimer’s from the products I’m buying? To answer these questions, Unilever’s Don’t Fret The Sweat campaign has created an educational resource, with a panel of experts, accessible through their Facebook page, DontFretTheSweat, to not only answer our questions, but give us some tools that can help turn this into an opportunity to build confidence within our kids.

Unilever is ideally suited to arm us with the facts we’ll need to teach our kids about sweat. They are the leading manufacturer of deodorant and antiperspirants and maker of Degree®

Men, Degree® Women, Degree® Girl, Dove® and Suave®. The Don’t Fret The Sweat campaign’s mission is to ensure that parents and kids remain cool, calm and confident throughout the day – especially during life’s sweat-inducingmoments – like talking to your tween about Body Odor.

My husband is the one who eventually had the talk with our son – but together, our overriding concern was, how can we keep from hurting his self-esteem during this talk? Fortunately, peer pressure overrode all of our concerns. The boys in the class were already talking about their new deodorants. Suddenly, bottles of deodorants and brands became the latest “share” on the school yard. By then, my other “little boys” were asking when they could have their own deodorants. The turf wars over deodorant had started … brothers were stealing bottles off their dresser shelves and claiming them for their own. Suddenly, everyone in the house wanted to have a smell! The label, Degree® Men carried a lot of clout with my boys – I’m not a little boy anymore, Mom.

What my husband and I originally thought was going to turn out to be a sticky situation, actually turned out to be just one more “fun new discovery” for the kids. These are the kinds of stories real parents are sharing about the transition between tweens into self-reliant teens that you can find at Don’t Fret The Sweat’s Facebook page.

If you can remember that day when the sweet-smelling child of yours turned sour smelling – or if you’re dreading the day, share your story in the comments below. I’ll be giving away a $100 Visa gift card and a Don’t Fret The Sweat gift pack.

There are more chances to win. Visit the BlogHer Prizes & Promotions section. Please visit the Official Rules. Contest runs from 10/4–11/4/11.

Rules

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
• a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
• b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
• c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
• d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
• You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

I send my kid to fetch anything I need that is located on a different floor than the one I’m standing on. They’re young, right? They have all that energy, right? They do… yes they do… but spending energy, like money, makes energy. And I need more energy. Who doesn’t? Now, come to think of it, it burns far more calories to go up and down the stairs than it does to get sit and wait for it to be delivered, right? (Well, honestly, I don’t sit and wait for my kid to deliver me something – I’m productive… I get busy doing something else.) Stairs are a great way to keep the legs in shape…so, essentially, I have this entire gym at my disposal in my house, and I’m not even using it.

Such is the awareness that comes from joining the Degree Women “Get Into the Move” application on Facebook (facebook.com/degreewomen) Degree gives you points when you earn motionMILES, virtual currency redeemable towards chances to win thousands of prizes. These motionMILES are earned for various ways women move. Eligible activities include going to the gym, gardening, walking instead of driving to the store. Once earned, fans can use motionMILES for a shot at winning instant prizes by spinning the prize wheel or by entering weekly and grand prize sweepstakes.

Gone, also is my excuse that I just showered, and “I don’t want to break a sweat.” Degree with motionSENSE™ , is a new anti-perspirant & deodorant formula that I’m using that is activated directly by movement, not moisture, to help me stay ahead of perspiration. So, to avoid sounding like a cliché, Degree with motionSENSE™ is keeping me “fresh all day long.”

This is why, I decided to head out for a run in the afternoon… even after my shower. It was really, just a quick jog… but nevertheless, I moved. A storm knocked out our wifi at the lake, so I was unable to log my motionMILES directly into my account. Instead, I kept a log of my activities to enter

when I returned back home. Imagine my disappointment when I learned that you could only enter 3 activities per day… this means there are motionMILES I will never be able to enter. Yet, they are still calories burned.

If you haven’t joined the Get Into the Move” challenge on Facebook (facebook.com/degreewomen), you can sign up here. You’ll be able to earn points to win prizes like a surfing trip in Hawaii, designer shoes, gift certificates for Zumba classes and much more. Fans can also choose to donate motionMILES in a dollar amount to one of two charities: The Challenged Athletes Foundation and Girls in The Game. For more information, “Like” the Degree Women Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/DegreeWomen.
Win another chance to win a $ a $100 Visa Gift card by letting me know in the comments below, what kinds of activities you’ll be doing to participate in the “Get Into the Move Challenge.” Your comment will automatically enter you for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift card until 7/19-8/15/2011: 5pm PST. There are more chances to win. Check out the BlogHer Round Up page here to enter.

Contest Rules:
· No duplicate comments.
· You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
· methods:
· a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
· b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
· on this post
· c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
· this post
· d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about
· an alternate form of entry.
· This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older
· Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
· You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be
· selected.
For the official rules, click here.

I’ve always been hesitant to sign my boys up for email addresses for fear of having one more thing to monitor in their lives. There’s been enough news about cyber bullying to make me “just say no” to kid email accounts. Yet, the boys do need email accounts for school, as their teachers use them to send homework details, for library cards, and there are a few friend who are already beginning to want to exchange messages. Instead, we use a family email account, so that I can filter all incoming mail. But this is becoming problematic too – now our inbox in inundated with junk, and list serves for everything that comes through the school.

Mouse Mail may be the answer I’m looking for. Mouse Mail is a free on-line web-filtering tool that allows kids to set up their own profiles (took them forever to pick out their very own profile picture) and email accounts that is automatically filtered for inappropriate content. I’m not sure how Mouse Mail is set up, but I was a bit disappointed when one of my son’s first name’s was already taken…I guess adding birth dates as suffixes to the name is another option.

The entire site headlines are written in a kid friendly font, and Mouse Mail gives your child the option from choosing and changing his own wall paper – or themes. (Forest Friends is my favorite, by the way.)

Mouse Mail also gives kids the ability to send me a text message from their own Mouse Mail account, via the computer, directly to my phone. While the text messaging feature can be sent to any phone, your child can only send a message to a parent-approved contact.

Once your child logs in, they are presented with a new kid-trivia question… state capitals, math, and geography are the topics. If they answer the question correctly, they can earn points. I’m not too keen on the points… I’ve never liked reward systems. Still, my son finds it rewarding enough to know how many lines of symmetry a square has. Thanks for asking…

Now, for the fun part. There are games! Approved games. Games that won’t end up locking up your computer with some kind of weird viruses. Games the kids really can’t wait to play, such as Dumbolf, Whack a Bully, and Flying Egg. All pre-approved and filtered by Mouse Mail.

Along with the email account, there is a calendar that allows the kids to enter their own sports schedules, and homework deadlines… and even a place for us, the parents, to enter chores that must be completed… before they sit down to play their game. Plus, this is the fun part – I can surprise them here by including a surprise lunch, or ice-cream date.

I signed my two boys up for Mouse Mail accounts. From the parent dashboard, I can monitor what they are doing on-line through Mouse Mail. There, I can see any messages to review – (none yet!) and add to their calendar. What will be really fun is sending them text messages when the hubby and me take off for a vacation.

I encourage you to check this free web-site out. Sign your kids up for an account this summer (so my kids can email your kids…) and try out the calendar. Leave me a comment to let me know how you have been monitoring your kid’s online activities, and what does or doesn’t work. Your comment will enter you to win a $100 Visa Gift Card. The contest runs from 7/18-8-15, 2011

Check out the BlogHer Round Up page here for more chances to enter.
Contest Rules:
· No duplicate comments.
· You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
· methods:
· a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
· b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
· on this post
· c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
· this post
· d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about
· an alternate form of entry.
· This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older
· Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
· You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be
· selected.
For the official rules, click here.

But now, maybe I have a secret weapon. bodycology has just released a NEW line of Body Washes and Body Lotions, bodycology rich&creamy, that not only luxuriously moisturize, but also provide the long-lasting scent you would expect from perfume that comes in a bottle.

First, right out of the box, I jumped in the shower to find that that the designers of the bodycology bottles were also thinking about me.

The bottle is designed to stand upside down, with the flip-cap on the bottom, making it quick and easy to get the product out of the bottle — no fumbling around in the shower trying to shake the product down in the bottle. The Body Wash comes out of the bottle nice and thick, with a peak from the squirt… very nice and luxurious. This thick consistency built up a nice lather, even in the hard water up here at the lake. The wash was so thick, in fact, that I even used it as a shaving lotion… and my legs, after the shave, felt smooth. The scent? Nicely understated and fresh smelling.

After my shower, I applied the bodycology rich&creamy Lotion. Unlike the Body Wash, the fragrance in the Lotion is much more powerful, and long lasting. My skin absorbed the Lotion very quickly, no stickiness, and no track lines. When I crawled into bed that night, my legs were still smooth.

Next, I put the Lotion to the test. Could it heal the tough, callused skin on the bottoms of my feet? I was hoping that the combination of jojoba extract and petrolatum would protect my feet from the wear and tear that my feet endure up here in the summer. Right before bedtime, I washed my feet clean, and then I applied the bodycology Lotion to the rough calloused soles of my feet. Then, I tucked them into white cotton socks, and let the Lotion do its work all night long. In the morning, I pulled off my socks, and rubbed my fingers along my new baby-soft feet. bodycology, you passed the test. My feet weren’t just soft, but they actually felt “healed.”

Usually, when I arrive back home from the lake, I am in need of intense skin repair after the rigors of the hard water, sun, lake and outdoor work in the garden. This summer, however, thanks to bodycology’s NEW line of Body Washes and Body Lotions, I might just look, and feel, as if I’ve spent the summer at a lavish spa.

How about you? How do you treat your skin? Find more about hydrating your own skin by reading the hydration quiz on facebook.com/bodycology.

Visit www.bodycology.com and leave a comment here sharing which formula is right for you and you’ll be entered to win a bodycology gift basket. There are more chances to win, check out the BlogHer.com prizes and promotions page.

Here are the rules of the contest, which runs July 5^th – 31^st ,2011

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.

Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.

You have 72 hours to get back to me; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

Yoga has always been my work-out of choice. As a busy mom, my schedule has never granted me the luxury of keeping a daily set time at a yoga studio, — so I do yoga, at least once a day, via the MP3 routines I’ve downloaded to my phone.  

My “studio” is on the third floor — quiet and a zone my kids rarely enter. Peace, and serentiy, in a house full of four boys is a rare luxury, that can find there.

Enter summer. My third floor yoga studio is now a fiery inferno that gets only a sprinkling of the fresh cold air from our air conditioner. Yet, I’m treating this “heat” as a bonus, I now have an instant “hot yoga studio.”

Just in time, Degree asked me to try their new Degree with motionSENSE™ . This new anti-perspirant & deodorant formula activated directly by movement, not moisture, to help me stay ahead of perspiration. This means, that while I’m walking up the three flights of stairs, Degree with motionSENSE™ has already sensed my movement, kicking in to keep me dry and fresh-smelling as I go through my hot routine. Other kinds of anti-perspirants and deodorants release fragrance upon contact with moisture.

In celebration of the launch of Degree with motionSENSE™, Degree is rewarding women for moving. The “Get into the Move” application on Facebook rewards users with a chance to win thousands of cool prizes for ways women already move – whether it’s running errands or running miles.

By registering for the Degree Women “Get Into the Move” application on Facebook (facebook.com/degreewomen) fans can start earning motionMILES, virtual currency redeemable towards chances to win thousands of prizes. These motionMILES are earned for various ways women move, including checking in with Facebook places and logging activities.

Earning motionMILES is easy – eligible activities include going to the gym, taking Zumba® or yoga classes and various other activities women already do, like grocery shopping or catching the bus. Fans can also earn motionMILES by answering daily trivia questions on the Facebook application, inviting friends to “Get into the Move,” and even logging in daily. Once earned, fans can use motionMILES for a shot at winning instant prizes by spinning the prize wheel or by entering weekly and grand prize sweepstakes.

Prizes include a surfing trip in Hawaii, designer shoes, gift certificates for Zumba classes and much more. Fans can also choose to donate motionMILES in a dollar amount to one of two charities: The Challenged Athletes Foundation and Girls in The Game. For more information, “Like” the Degree Women Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/DegreeWomen.

Leave a comment below to let me know what kinds of activities you’ll be doing to participate in the “Get Into the Move Challenge.” Leave a comment below to let me know what your fitness goals are, and your comment will automatically enter you for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift card until 6/20-7/18: 5pm PST. There are more chances to win. Check out the BlogHer Round Up page here to enter. Contest Rules:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
• methods:
• a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
• b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
• on this post
• c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
• this post
• d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about
• an alternate form of entry.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
• You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be
• selected.

For the official rules, click here.

While there is nothing I love more than watching my kids get out and stretch their legs, and run as if they had wings, it is with great sadness that spring break ends, and along with it, that tight familial bond of family time, togetherness and relaxation. The final session of school begins, and spring sports start. With each year, parents seem to dread spring a bit more each year, with some of us call now calling the month of May, with its unrelenting practice and game schedules, the new “December.”

As the weather warms, all of us are itching to get outside…and spring sports seems like the most logical solution to everyone’s needs. Yet, to a family with four active boys, the practice schedules make it almost impossible to provide the basic core elements to creating a healthy lifestyle. Late nights in the car pool can push homework into bedtime, and the balanced meal can mean grabbing unhealthy snacks on the run. To keep kids in top physical condition, they need optimum sleep, exercise and good nutrition.

Absolutely adorable…, I know…

Then, I had the opportunity to listen to Stephanie Hamm, mom to six, and mom to retired American soccer player and U.S. Olympian, Mia Hamm. All of Stephanie’s children played sports. They all had relentless schedules… and yet Stephanie looks back on those practices and games as the “best family time they ever had.” Please check out her inspiring video here. I participated in a conference call and some other mommy bloggers via BlogHer, and many of us were in awe at her enthusiasm, grace and ability to recall how she kept it all together despite the unrelenting practices. Each “strike-out” brought an opportunity to “talk it through and teach their child about values.” The games provided an opportunity for the family to cheer each other on, and build self-esteem. Long hours in hotel rooms were used to build family bonding times. They also watched lots of movies, after having family meetings about what was “appropriate.”

I am in awe of Stephanie Hamm. She inspired me to fill the crock-pot in the morning with all the ingredients for Sloppy Joes, and grabbing a pack of buns and loading the car with all the kids and eating a potluck, tailgate style, with my family at the soccer game’s parking lot.

Yet, in many ways, we have it easier than Stephanie did. For one thing, we know more about how our bodies work, we pay more attention to our health, and understand how critical hydration and fueling is to athletic performance. Fluid losses of as little as 2 percent of body weight (less than 4 pounds in a 200-pound athlete) can impair performance by increasing fatigue. It’s common for some athletes to lose between 5-8 pounds of sweat during a game, so it’s easy for athletes to become dehydrated if they don’t drink enough to replace what is lost in sweat.

To overcome dehydration, we have Gatorade’s G Series, specially designed to provide athletes with the sports nutrition and hydration their body needs before, during and after training and competition. The carbohydrates and electrolytes in sports drinks help refuel muscles and speed re-hydration. Specifically, here’s how the G Series breaks down. (You can find all this information from the research done by the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, GSSI):

01 Prime

• Pre-game fuel to help them start stronger.

02 Perform

• Performance hydration to help them last longer.

03 Recover

• Post-game protein to help them recover faster.

The G Series Natural

• Natural ingredients like sea salt, natural flavors and sweeteners.

Today, we understand the importance of nutrition, and the role protein plays in helping kids developing muscle to prevent injuries. The Gatorade Mom website is full of resourceful links to help busy moms incorporate the latest in scientific health research to help our kids. For example, check out this article on Post Workout Protein-Packed Breakfasts on the Gatorade site full of the things kids love.

While I certainly don’t miss the traveling this spring, thanks to the rain, my kids are still finding ways to stretch their legs by heading to the backyard to do some kind of kicking around.

We’ve had our share of basketball games spelling H-O-R-S-E, the soccer ball lands over the neighbor’s fence (almost daily), “ramps” are built along the sidewalk as ramps, and kick ball is always an all-time daily favorite. We may not be heading to the park for our daily dose of exercise this spring, the kids are still running, and Gatorade is keeping us fueled and hydrated.

Like Mia’s mom, I’m sure you’ve come up with some innovate solutions of creating “family time” in the midst of crazy sports schedules. For us, this year, family time came in the form of the rain. So, what are your tips to keep quality family time high, despite the crazy schedules? Leave a comment and you will be entered in a chance to win a $100 gift card to Dick’s Sporting Goods from BlogHer and Gatorade from 6/1/11 – 6/30/11. Here are the official rules for the contest:

• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry
• methods:
• a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
• b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment
• on this post
• c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on
• this post
• d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about
• an alternate form of entry.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
• You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be
• selected.

You can visit this page for other chances to win.

Our electricity consumption has been steadily rising, increasing 52% since 1980. Yet, our generation of electric power produces more pollution than any other single industry in the United States. You can read about the sulfur dioxide emissions that contribute to acid rain, and carbon emissions that contribute to global climate change and other hazards here.

What power do you really have to stop the impact of our lifestyle on Mother Earth? We can buy all the locally-grown produce we want, but if we want to reduce our carbon footprint, we need to begin now to teach our children that turning off the light switch does more than save money, it saves the earth. The message hits closer to our kid’s hearts if we tell them that conserving electricity can save a frog’s life. The analogy is really not that far off.

When we pull an electric current into our home through the flip of a switch, the generator that provides the power creates pollution that makes acid rain that allows mercury and aluminum to leach from rocks into our soil and lakes. As the mercury fills our waters, we have the danger of frogs, turtles and fish poisoned by mercury. While our soil and our lakes do have a natural ability to neutralize the acidity of rainwater, they do have their breaking points. If the pH reaches 5.5, plankton and certain insects begin to die. At a pH of 5.0, fish begin to die.

We’ve heard about the energy-efficient light bulbs before, but it bears repeating that if every American household replaced just one 40-watt incandescent light bulb with a 9-watt GE energy smart LED, it would prevent 5 billion pounds of greenhouse gas emissions and save almost $400 million in annual energy costs.
We can only count on our electricity consumption to increase. How many laptops do you have this year, versus five years ago? We are relying on electricity more and more everyday to run our lives. The small changes you’re making at home like unplugging unused appliances, washing clothes in cold water and carpooling will make a world of difference in the future.

Problem solving is part of your every day life and no one knows that better than you. You’ve probably thought of a million ways to make your home run more smoothly and now here is your chance to come up with and share big ideas — ideas that will change the way we use energy. Sharing your ideas could make a major difference, not only in your home, but also in homes across the country. Leave your ideas in the comments below for a chance to win two $50 GE energy smart LED light bulbs that live 20 years and saves you $85 in energy costs.

In GE’s ecomagination Challenge: Powering Your Home, GE is calling for your bright ideas to find a way to harness, conserve and manage the energy at home with practical ideas that families can put to use. The challenge is open to anyone with a bright idea, and so far, the program has received more than 1,000 ideas. One of my favorite ideas is the StemGrip that allows stemware to be safely washed in the dishwasher. (Hand washing stemware wastes a lot of water.) Or what about putting your home on Sleep Mode, a way to power your appliances down to minimum operating capacity, much like a computer does?

GE and it’s venture capital partners have committed $200MM to support viable ideas submitted to the challenge. More than $100MM can still be made available for this second phase of the challenge.

In addition to investment, commercial relationships and other partnership opportunities, five “Innovation Award” winners whose ideas represent pioneering entrepreneurship and innovation will be granted $100,000. The challenge is open through March 1, 2011, and already has hundreds of sophisticated and practical ideas, with over 1000 users commenting and supporting these ideas. A judging panel, comprised of GE executives, venture capital partners, and leading academics & technologists, will evaluate entries for exemplary entrepreneurship and innovation and select another round of five innovation award winners. You can browse through the ideas to discover more details about it, access videos, read comments and see related ideas on You Tube, the blog , Foursquare and Facebook.

The first phase of the ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid [July -- September 2010], resulted in one of the largest initiatives of its kind, generating more than 3,800 ideas and creating a community of 70,000 people across more than 150 countries. Browse through the ideas today, and share your own. Your idea could win a prize, but maybe, also save a frog’s life.

Share with me what your energy use challenges at home are, and your solutions for a chance to win two $50 GE energy smart LED light bulbs that last 20 years and saves you $85 in energy cost. One given away per week from 2/15/11 – 3/15/11. Check out the BlogHer Roundup page to see more chances to enter.

• Contest Rules
• No duplicate comments.
• You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
  1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post.
  2. Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

• For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
• This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
• Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail
• You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
• The Official Rules are available here.

Like other group shopping sites, a deal on Gaggle of Chicks “hatches” after several Moms make the same purchase. Since deals expire after only 48 hours, speed matters! After making a purchase, buyers receive a referral code to send to friends so that they can buy it, too. You earn $10 every time someone you invite makes their first Gaggle purchase, and your friends instantly get a $10 credit as soon as they sign up.

Each day there is a new “deal,” with a sidebar deal from the previous day, “deals ending soon.” A box beside the featured items tells you the original price, savings, and your price — telling you (similar to E-bay) how long before the deal expires. Each deal expires after 48 hours.

This shopping experience is free, you only need to sign up via email to receive the daily deals. My “hatched deal” was an incredible space ship playhouse. The items was so popular that users had difficulty getting through the site to place orders. Gaggle of Chicks were overwhelmed with the response, and their system had trouble keeping up with the overload. Lessons were learned, and the staff at Gaggle of Chicks made every effort to ensure my order was fulfilled.

You can share the deals and learn about them on the Gaggle of Chicks Facebook and Twitter pages. Sign up here.

This post was part of a review with Mother Talk, and I received a gift in exchange for trying out the Gaggle of Chicks website.