Life's too short for sucky blog posts -- let me make it up to you (#GIVEAWAY)

I don't really like to publish sucky blog posts, but it happens sometimes. (Fortunately, I think, once in a great while.) My last post -- Cereal for lunch?  -- definitely wasn't one of my best. Trust me, that's not the way I intended it.

When the big box arrived at home, I had great plans for an awesome post, one that would do me and General Mills proud. I shot probably 12 minutes of video for the post. It turns out, I'm not a very good videographer. The sound and light was too low. I cut off words and images of the Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme cereal. It was, as they say, a "hot mess."

So my enthusiasm for writing the post went from rocket high to submarine low. I just kept putting it off...until I was literally on top of the deadline. So what I wrote and what you got was a less than stellar post. I didn't even include a giveaway because I had misplaced the giveaway information.

HOWEVER...I am prepared to make it up to you. Thanks to the uber-organized and super helpful people at MyBlogSpark, I am once again in possession of the information I need to to be able to give away a Hershey's Cookies & Creme cereal prize pack!


The lucky winner of this prize pack, which is provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark, will receive:

• 1 Box of Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme Cereal
• 1 Cereal storage container (my kids' favorite part of the pack)
• 2 Cereal-To-Go containers

TO ENTER:
Entering to win is easy -- Visit the General Mills website and leave a comment here, telling what your favorite General Mills cereal is.

If you'd like a second entry, visit the 4th Frog Facebook page and comment on the link to this post  that you'll forgive me for not working up to my potential in the original Hershey's Cookies 'n' Creme post.

This giveaway will be open until 5pm EST Friday, August 9.

Cereal for lunch? Why not!

Cereal is a staple in our house. Well, it's more than a staple. It's practically its own food group. Robbie and Charlie are the biggest inhalers, er, consumers of the cereal and with them home more in the summer than during the school year, we've been going through about 4 boxes a week (doing the math, that's a little over 1/2 a box a day).

When My Blog Spark contacted me with an opportunity from General Mills to get a free Hershey's Cookies & Creme cereal gift pack, including a free box of the cereal, it didn't take me long to say yes.

The package arrived in a pretty big box, which intrigued all the kids. Honestly, they were just as excited to receive the cereal dispenser as they were to get the free box of cereal. I mean, really, all the cereal that comes in this house seems free to them, right?

"It's just like they have at a hotel," Charlie said.

Of course they all wanted to try the cereal right away and because it was 11:30 in the morning, I decided that we could call it "lunch." Aren't I a great mom? The kids sure thought so.

Hershey's Cookies & Creme cereal IS made from 100% whole grains and only has 9g of sugar per serving -- which is WAY LESS than the amount of sugar that would be ingested if I let Robbie put his own sugar on his cereal.

So, the kids had Cookies & Creme cereal for lunch. I'm pretty sure they liked it ok because each of them had two bowls of it and that was the end of that!

Tonight at Target, a box of Hershey's Cookies & Creme cereal was $2.99. When I went to In Good Cents, my favorite coupon database, I found several coupons for $1 off Hershey's Cookies & Creme. Once I factor in my Red Card discount and an Rx Rewards discount, I can get a box for $1.80.

That's good enough for me -- and that's who the next box will be for: ME. The next time I buy Hershey's Cookies & Creme cereal, I'm bringing it home and promptly hiding it from the kids. I can do that. I'm the mom.

As for the kids, they say "thank you" to:


Disclosure: The information and prize pack have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

5 completely fictional causes I could stand behind

Doesn't it seem like there's always a new petition to sign or cause to support? I was thinking about this yesterday and thought of a few that I'd happily lend my signature to.

1. "Occupy December" -- A movement to stay home the entire month of December and alternatively be lazy and efficiently domestic
2. Bring back the "Facts of Life" -- A petition to get Nickelodeon, The Hub, TBS, TVLand or some other television channel to start airing re-runs of the '80s sitcom "The Facts of Life"
3. Fashion declaration -- A push to have Stacey and Clinton declare on "What Not to Wear" that which I already know: Lime green is the new neutral.
4. Cereal: It's What's for Dinner -- A move to alleviate guilt on the part of mothers everywhere by declaring one day a month (even better, a week!) as Cereal for Dinner day.
5. Accio Siesta! -- So I just mixed a little Harry Potter speak with Spanish, but bring on the afternoon naptimes. My brother-in-law commented over Thanksgiving that I sleep in phases, a few hours here and there. See how well an afternoon siesta would work for me?

What fictitious cause could you get behind?

The power of fiber

Cereal is a staple in this house, especially for Robbie. I try not to buy what my mother-in-law would call "crappy" cereal -- those sugary monstrosities that try to pass for breakfast. I do buy honey nut Cheerios pretty often (even though I know that regular cheerios would be better).

The other day, I found Kashi Heart to Heart honey toasted oat cereal. With 4g of protein and 5g of fiber per serving, it sounded like a healthy alternative to the honey nut Cheerios. Fast forward to this morning:

Robbie: Mom, can I have honey nut Cheerios? But not the heart kind.

Mom: Why not the heart kind? It tastes good and it's good for you.

Robbie: Because it grumbles my butt!