I didn’t use to be a big fan of sending out Christmas cards, but there are so many options when it comes to design, I really enjoy it now. Last year I was able to choose a design from Shutterfly for 50 free cards. I went with the Year In Review Design. I was able to include pictures of my kids and nephew that I had taken throughout the year. It is a folded card, so I was able to write a little note inside.

This year I am going for a different look, but I have decided on which one yet. I like the “Sparkle Joy” design because it is nice and simple. I could look through my pictures to find one of the entire family. I don’t want the folded card though.

My next pick is the Holiday Cheers design. The blue background is pretty and there is a spot for each of my children. I would love to take some pictures of them in the snow, but we have not had any yet in Wisconsin.

My favorite is the Our Top Ten design.  I could add pictures of everyone and update friends and family to what we have been up to.

Which of these holiday cards do you like the best? I am definitely having a hard time choosing which one. I am leaning more towards stationary cards this year instead of folded ones. The Christmas photo cards are growing on me. They really stand out.

Are you a blogger? Want a chance at 25 free cards this holiday season? Register here:http://goo.gl/DDw7Q

The Giveaway

Three lucky 1StopMom readers will win code to get 25 free Shutterfly greeting cards!

Shutterfly gave me 50 free Holiday cards and provided the prizes for the giveaway. Opinions are 100% my own as always

I can get pretty forgetful sometimes, especially when it comes to charging all the different devices we have laying around the house. When you are always on the go, life is much easier if everything is charged. There have been too many times on my way out of the house I realized that my phone was not charged. This is where the Energizer® Inductive Charger comes into the picture. This charger has advanced technology which inludes Qi (pronounced chee). Qi allows you to charge your smartphones cord free. Now that really caught my attention because we have cords everywhere. But for some strange reason, we have a hard time finding the actual cord we need (they all look alike). This usually results in time spent looking high and low looking for a certain cord. My family does this all the time.

I recently was able to review the Energizer® Inductive Charger and iPhone sleeve. In the box you get the charger and ac adapter. the Inductive Charger can charge up to three devices. There are two spots on the front of the device and a usb port on the back. Nannah plugged her PSP in with no problem. You can plug in a camera, mp3 or anything that can charge through an usb port.

You will need a sleeve to use this with your smart device. Right now the two smart phones that are supported are the iPhone and Blackberry.

I was sent the sleeve for the iPhone. The sleeve is two pieces and made of tough material that fits the iPhone perfectly. It has a great grip and did not slip out of my hand at all. There are holes for the volume buttons, headphones and camera. It is easy to remove the sleeve but I keep mine on. It makes sense to leave it on so I can just set it on the charger and be done. The less steps the better.

Once I put the sleeve on, I set the iPhone on the charging pad. I put it on there sideways, on an angle and the middle. It did not matter, it charged. That is nice to know that I do not have to set my phone on an exact spot to charge. If that was the case I would probaly still have the problem of grabbing an uncharged phone.

The Energizer® Inductive Charger has made a huge difference in my day to day life. I have not used the charging cord since I have tried this. I love seeing that little blue light glowing, it gives me once less thing to worry about. The ac adapter cord is a nice length so the options of where I want to put the charger pad are endless. I hate it when products come with really short cords.

Jazz did try her iPod Touch in the sleeve. Of course it did not fit very well, it moved around. The sleeve is made for the iPhone, but the touch did charge. I hope that there are future plans for an iPod Touch sleeve.

The Energizer® Inductive Charger can be found at Target for $89.99. The sleeves are $34.99

I was provided with a media sample to review. The opinions are 100% mine as always.

Crock Pot Trio

Back in May I wrote about a crock pot I saw on HSN. It was the Crock Pot Trio. It stood out to me because you can cook three things at once. I did not buy it because $100 was too much for my budget. I opened the Target paper today and saw it on sale for $79! Plus no shipping and handling charges. I am hoping it will go on sale for even less in the next few months. This would be perfect for winter! I think I could get a lot of use out of it.

Since my kids were little I taught my kids manners. Always say please and thank you, respect everyone, make sure you are always polite. No exceptions. That is what my Grandmother taught me.  I guess it is working because I always get compliments about how well mannered my children are.

When I was in high school and got my first job I learned how to give great customer service. And this was years ago, but it has still stuck with me.

• You keep a smile on the your face
• You don’t argue with customers
• You are polite and never, ever rude
• You are always pleasant
• You do not talk about how you do not like your job or should have been off 10 minutes ago
• You do not yell at customers
• You do not hold private conversations with other employees or friends
• You do not ignore customers
• You greet customers
• You do not answer and talk on your cell phone or text

It has become second nature to me and I can not help but wonder if customer service is still being taught by companies. While taking my kids school shopping we are experiencing different levels of customer service. And it is not always good. This is not only disappointing but unacceptable. I am spending my hard earned money at your place of business, is it too much to ask for a little bit of courtesy? If you are not willing to do that why should I spend my money there instead of somewhere else. Over the past 2 weeks on at least 2 seperate ocassions my family has been given poor customer service.

I took my kids to the bank to open up bank accounts. After the process was over I asked “When are you going to explain about the kids club and how it works. Plus the two youngest were looking forward to the free t-shirts there were supposed to get for opening up their first account. The young lady had no idea what I was talking about. She wasn’t rude about it but she was not very nice either. I decided to drive to the corporate office of the bank, maybe they had some answers. My husband and I have been with the same bank over 15 years. Unfortunately the staff was very rude. The three tellers were having a conversation about going out and I had to patiently wait until they finished before they acknowledged me. When I explained my concerns, they shrugged their shoulders and pointed me towards some doors where a receptionist sat. The kids and I walked over there and explained the Kid’s Club situation again. She actually said “What am I supposed to do?’ My reply was ” Hopefully direct me to the person who can handle my concerns”. She stood up, walked over to the doors and yelled at the tellers (who were still talking), “What do you want me to do with them?”. I have never dealt with so many people who were so unprofessional and completely lost. Especially at a bank.

Jazz went to do some of  her school shopping at a certain store she really likes. (Yes she is doing her own school shopping with money she made from her job!) The cashier was rude, she snatched Jazz’s gift card out of her hand, she swiped it before Jazz could even explain how she was going to pay for her purchase. Because of this, Jazz decided she did not want to get anything at the store. The cashier told her well you are just out of luck, I already charged the gift card. Did I mention she yelled at Jazz. Nannah was with and she was steaming when they got back home. Jazz could not understand why this cashier had an attitude. She likes shopping at this store but knows she does not deserve to be treated this way. Of course I called the store and spoke with a manager. Her explanation was the cashier was “new” but they do value their customers. The money will be back on Jazz’s card within 3 days. I am sorry, but what does being new have to do with being polite? What is even worse is the kids had to describe the cashier to me because she did not wear a name tag. Every job I worked we always had to have a name tag on.

Ok thanks for listening to me vent, I just had to get it out!

Now don’t get me wrong not all companies are like this. There are some companies that give wonderful customer service.

In just a few weeks it will time for the kids to go back to school. I am a little excited because I love shopping for school supplies. Now school clothes is a little different because taking all four can be an adventure to say the least. I think it is the most fun when I take Kayla though. She is developing her likes and dislikes on everything from accessories to shoes. I really have to pay close attention when she is trying everything on because she is growing very fast. I don’t have any money to waste so I do not want to buy anything that does not fit properly. When it comes to making sure my girls school shoes fit,  I usually do this thing where I squeeze the tip to make sure they can move their toes. It is a habit I got into over 15 years ago when Jazz was a baby. I wanted to be sure about how to check if buckle shoes fit correctly. I love how little girls look in buckle shoes and a skirt or dress. It is just too cute.  Of course I went straight to Youtube because you can find videos about just about everything on there. The video I watched was showed a lot of things that never crossed my mind. Just by paying attention to the way the strap fits, you are able to see if the shoes too wide or narrow in size. Who knew? Oh and the shoes the little girl is wearing are adorable!

We have had our kitchen table a long time. Over 10 years.  I got it at an outlet store on clearance for under $100. It is made of  thick wood and has been able to hold up through all the cooking, projects, homework, crafts and everything else my family does. It stills looks really nice but the problem is it is just too low (and I hate the chairs!) . My husband is over 6 feet tall and I am around 5’9″. It seriously hurts my back when I have to do anything at the table. My mother in law has one of those taller kitchen tables that I just love.  Since I am working on kitchen I am looking at dining room sets.  Now I am starting to like the look of dark wood. Maybe because it hides more?  I think the table we have now is oak. What do you think about this set?

I love the cappuccino color but not the color of the cushion seats. I need something much darker. I am also feeling the number of seats.

I like this one too but the table looks way too small. It has a lazy susan. I am sure the kids would have lots of fun with that! It would be nice if it had a leaf in it though.

 I wonder if it would work. What type of table do you have in your kitchen or dining room? If you have a table that is the height of a counter top do you like it?

Everyone is trying to become more healthy and I feel like I am such a newbie on this subject. There is so much out here it is easy to get information overload. I am thinking along the lines of those Bing commercials and the whole search overload thing. So what I am wondering is what exactly is whey protein and do I need it?  I have heard the term used before but I think it was in reference to bodybuilding or something. I could be wrong but that is not me, lol. I want to get healthier but I am passing on all the big muscles and stuff. You would probably use whey protein if you were in training for something.  You can mix in with water, juice or milk.  If you are interested in products like this you could check out Health Foods UK.  You can buy cheap supplements  there as well as other health products.

When it comes to replacing your mattress, it never crossed my mind to consider a mattress topper. I looked into a little and it sounds like a great way to possibly extend the life of your current mattress.A mattress topper definitely is not as pricey as brand new mattresses.  I am thinking about getting one while I save up for a new mattress set. I love my current mattress but it does not feel like it used to. It is one of those kinds where you can not feel it if the other person moves.  My husband does not feel the same though. He thinks it is fine but I think I would like to try something along the lines of a memory foam mattress. I have some back problems and want a little more comfort. The only questions I have is will it make my bed too high and are there problems when it comes to sheets? I know they make those deep pocket sheets but are they deep enough when you use a mattress topper?

 On  June 21st we celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary. The kids have talking about us renewing our vows and I am likingthe idea. We had a small private wedding that was really nice. But I would love to do it again, just a little different. Not anything huge or over the top though.  Of course I am paying attention to wedding stuff here and there. You know, so I know what is out there. Did you know there is something called wedding insurance? Since I did not have a big wedding this was not something I looked into all those years ago. I wonder is this becoming more common. It makes sense to have some type of safety net since weddings can cost so much money. This is not even including the fact that something might go wrong. Someone could get sick or what if a service you pay for doesn’t come through? I have seen so many court show where there were problems at a wedding which resulted in lawsuits. This is probably why wedding insurance never crossed my mind. Oh and what if you get married overseas?  Now that is definitely when I would look into overseas wedding insurance. With all the traveling and passports and stuff. I could not imagine not having some type of wedding insurance.

Nannah has her last orchestra performance of the school year on Thursday. She has to dress in a white top with black bottoms and of course she can not find any of the white tops I have bought before. So I started running through a list of stores in my mind of where I could go. I did not feel like arguing about what she likes and what is in my price range. TJ Maxx popped in my head and I am glad it did. She found a shirt that she actually liked and would wear again. It is white, in her size with a cute black belt.   She does not fake the funk. If she does not like it, she will let me know!

I found quite a few things I am going back for.  A funnel cake kit, some stuff for the kitchen and of course some toys for me, I mean the kids, lol. I just love looking through the electronics section. I can always find something I need.

After finding her shirt we had to look around. I found Kayla three very nice shirts for $3 each. I saw one for $2 but could not convince her to get it. I thought it was beyond cute and not just the price.

This is Kayla’s favorite. I like the flowers on the front.

I even found a birthday gift for a friend, a 10 pack of flavored lip balm for Kayla for $5 and some lavender talc powder. I just love the scent of lavender.  Can you tell I had fun?