Mom~E~Centric

School started about 3 weeks ago here and it’s been hot but otherwise, it’s gone off without too much trouble. Well, if you don’t count the day my kindergarten child was latched onto my leg screaming. We had a blast buying school supplies and of course, our teachers put out a list and they are specific.

One of the items on their list is crayons of course and Crayola is always the suggested brand. I’m assuming they would take them even if you didn’t get the Crayola brand but really, why bother.

So, there’s all kinds of information I could give you about why these are the best but…I just like the fact that they smell like a new school year.  I will always associated certain smells with certain events in my life and this is just of them.

So, to celebrate…

How fun is that!  Check out the green square triangle on the box……And, of course, my multi-colored toes that were deemed “M & M Like”

Love it! Do you want to win a little surprise from Crayola too.  You can, you know…

Here’s some technical info you might want first….

• Crayola Markers – Thanks to new, innovative ways to manufacture Crayola markers from recycled bottle caps, “black” is the new “green!” Crayola markers will now have black barrels instead of white, which allows for more recycled plastic to be used and gives a second life to more than 1 million pounds of plastic bottle caps. Plus, switching to black barrels keeps hundreds of tons of plastic out of landfills each year. Available in 10-ct. Broadline Classic Colors, 10-ct. Broadline Assorted Colors, 10-ct. Fineline Classic Colors, 8-ct. Washable Broadline and 8-ct. Washable Fineline.

• Crayola Green 24-ct. Crayons – The quintessential school supply found in virtually every elementary classroom will be made with the power of the sun. More than 26,200 solar panels will convert sunlight into electricity, generating the energy required to make 1 billion of the 3 billion crayons Crayola makes each year, which equals 60 million 24-ct. boxes. Mother Earth will be smiling down on every forest green, pine green and jungle green crayon that rolls off the assembly line!

• Crayola Green Colored Pencils – Committed to protecting the rain forests since 1987, all Crayola colored pencils have been made from reforested wood instead of wood sourced from tropical rainforest or endangered species. For every tree used, a new tree of the same species is planted. The 12-, 24-, 36-, and 50-ct. boxes of Crayola Colored Pencils will be among the first to carry the “Eco-Evolution” callout on their packaging.

Now, what’s up for grabs?

Crayola “Green Back-to-School Essentials” prize pack that includes Crayola Green Markers, Crayola Green Crayons and Crayola Green Colored Pencils

How you can win?

Contest Information!

1. The contest starts at 5:00 PM CST on August 25, 2010 and will end at noon CST on August 31, 2010.
2. The contest is open to U.S. Residents only unless otherwise specified.
3. The winner will be given 48 hours to reply with a mailing address and then another winner will be chosen.
4. The winner will be chosen via Random.org’s Random Integer Function
5. Most of my giveaways require one entry and I give tons of bonus entries. Each additional entry is always optional and EACH ONE MUST BE LEFT IN A SEPARATE comment to count.  If you don’t follow the giveaway rules I will just delete your comment.
6. I don’t like to devote posts to winners nor do I like to mention it in my posts.   My plan is to keep those posts in the pages area in the right sidebar, I will simply mark them closed with the information to identify to the winner in the post until the prizes have been claimed by the winner.  Please make sure jareason@gmail.com is white listed in your email so that you can receive information from me regarding contests

Giveaway sponsors are responsible for shipping prizes that are offered on Mom~E~Centric. Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of any prizes won. If you do not receive your item AFTER that time, please email me and I will follow up with them.

Mandatory Entry:

The mandatory entry is to give me one example of how you teach your children to be more green.  Then return to the contest post and leave a comment identifying that product or if that is not possible, leave a comment about what you would do with the product if you won it.

Extra Entries: Various Combos of this Can and Will be Used

1. 5 extra entries will be awarded for subscribing to Mom~E~Centric.

2.  5 extra entries will be awarded for posting about this contest on your blog, you must return and leave a comment with the link to the exact url of your post, not your general url.  If you have multiple blogs, you can post about this contest once on each of your blogs and receive 5 extra entries for each blog.

3.  1 extra entry each will be awarded for following me on Twitter @The_Jerri_Ann .   If  you already follow me, leave your twitter name, if you are just following me, come back and leave your twitter name so I know to look for you so I can follow you back.

4.   2 extra entry each will be awarded for bookmarking each post in places like Digg, Kirtsy, Technorati, etc.   You can get 2 extra entry for each place you bookmark it but you must leave that information in separate comments.

5.  1 extra entry each will be awarded for bookmarking any other post on this blog to any of those same bookmarking sites listed above. You may do this as often as possible with as many posts and as many bookmarking sites, however you MUST leave a separate comment for each.  (I realize this one is a bit far fetched and out there but hey, some folks have all next week….anyway, naturally it’s an extra entry but could get you some massive entries)

6.  1 extra entry each for tweeting about this contest with @The_Jerri_Ann and the link to this contest in your tweet.  You can do this a maximum of 5 times a day.

Disclaimer: Mom~E~Centric’s reviews and its author assume no liability for damages associated with any prizes awarded here or contents contained therein. Prizes lost in the mail or those not delivered by sponsors are not the responsibility of Mom~E~Centric or its author. Prizes not claimed within two weeks of notification to the winner will have to be forfeited.

Entrants must be 18 years of age or older to enter, and entrants must follow state and local laws concerning sweepstakes.

And, as always, I received the package that I am giving away so yes, I was compensated but my opinions are not for sell…after all, who could fake those toenails?

Originally this was a video that I concocted at some wee hours of the morning. However, it is just too painful to watch right now, maybe later, but here’s the “translation” Get it, Translation!

As you may or may not know, the DEA is  working to hire Ebonics translators. Now, let me put this into perspective for you.

For years, our college educated teachers have tried to teach our children to learn the language of the land (which in this case is mostly English, I said mostly). 

The end result was a successful adult who could carry on a decent conversation.

Now, let me tell you what the DEA is apparently proposing.

1. First of all, we must pay teachers that do not speak ebonics how to do effectively do so.

2. Then we must pay those teachers to teach our children to speak ebonics properly.

3. Why can’t we just use the money on training teachers in ebonics to train the children in English?

And, since we are going to all this trouble, just repeat steps 1,2 and 3 for redneck speak too,

Just sayin’

Here’s how I see it playing out:

Language Teacher:

Good Morning, welcome to America where our native language is English. However you will find many other languages in use here, feel free to express yourself the way you see fit.’

Ebonics Teacher:

Yo, wut up homeboy whatcha got going down later?

Redneck Teacher:

Ima headed out to Jimmie Joe and Grampa Jetty’s farm fur sure.  We ain’t gunna git in no kina trouble er nuttin’ just a little moonshine and racing

Language Teacher:

Excuse me, when spoken correctly, the conversation should have been more like this “Hello, are you busy this afternoon? And the answer would have been simply stated by saying “Jimmie Joe an I are going to Grampy Jetty’s farm. We will be making illegal alcohol and racing cars but feel free to join us. (Can’t you just hear Opie saying “Jimmie Joe and I are going to Grampy Jetty’s farm?)

Ebonics Teacher:

Whoa! Dude! Back up offa me man, do you know where you are? Dis is American man and you can’t just run around correctin’ folks speechin’ You betta watchaself cuz if you tried that gig wid sum folks, you’d dun been gone by now, lucky fur you, I’m givn’ you warnin’ I gots a weapon and I ain’t afraid to use it, so go, git on outta here befoe you get yoself killed up in my house.

Redneck Teacher:

Did any ye guys git dat? I’m not so sure there’s such a thang as English, Spanish and heck Spanglish for that matter. If that’s all it takes to git me in that thar college down the road, I’m all good to let folks know I’m bi-lingual..wait, dat is duh right word now ain’t it?

English Teacher:

We appear to have a few barrier to break down here before we can move forward. Let me first explain that English is the native language. And when speaking with someone that you do business with or visit, some words can be effectively used even though they aren’t considered appropriate. However, many people will resort to a “slang” version of their native tongue when speaking with members of their family and close friends.

Now, let’s try this again, remember, you are in America, we embrace you and you are welcome to speak any language you like to those who understand it, however, if you are going to live in our country, you must learn to communicate with authorities such as legal entities *ahem DEA* along with other businesses. If you do not learn to communicate your intentions well, you could easily find yourself in a sticky situation

Redneck Teacher

Did I har him rite? Did he say sticky situ..situ..thang? I ain’t wantna no trubuh ye hear, just make sure we all unerstandin’ each other

Ebonics Teacher

Dude, get out of my way.

English Teacher:

The proper way would be to say “Excuse me, could you move over so I can get around you”.

Ebonics Teacher:

I gots one word for ye dude, gityoa$$ova!

Yes, indeed, school dismisses at 2:45’ish for my kids. It’s closer to 3:00’ish for the older ones but technically, it’s 2:45’ish for us. People start lining up around 1:00’ish to get their child. Today, I needed to go to the gas station but I wasn’t sure I had enough time to get to station and back before the folks had taken my car riding children back to their rooms requiring me to get out or if I had enough gas to sit in line from 2:32’ish until I actually got my kids at what was suppose to be 2:45’ish.

I lost on both ends. I got in line at 2:32’ish, I waited in line til 2:55’ish, went to the gas station, had to buy snacks then of course, pumped only $10 because this gas station was high  dollar stuff.   We returned to the truck, everyone buckled, crank the truck, open my water, ding, the gas light come on.  Indeed,  I was almost out of gas and even though I got gas, I am still almost out of gas. So, how many days can I go like this before I get the man of the house to pump me some gas?

Now that you’ve heard my daily horror story, let’s talk about something that school’ish (sure are a lot ‘ish things in this post) .  You see, this is week three for our little cherubs and I’ve done my classroom mother duties and bought supplies, bought some for other kids as part of a campaign and offered up my services as a volunteer.

What else can I do to help?  I mean, duh already. There’s a ton of stuff that I (and you) can do to help the good teachers who teach our kids and the good schools that employ our teachers.

Here’s how you can help….

The Box Tops for Education program is an easy solution and this year Walmart is making it even easier! From Aug. 3 – Aug. 31, head over to your local Walmart to find 4 Box Tops on participating General Mills products and earn more cash for the participating school of your choice. As your one-stop destination for all your needs this back-to-school season, Walmart is helping you save more and earn more with the Box Tops for Education brands you love.
With over 20 great brands and more than 40 products participating, here are just a few favorites that include 4 Box Tops that you can find at Walmart this August: Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, Pillsbury Toaster Strudel pastries, Trix Yogurt, Hamburger Helper skillet meals, Totino´s Pizza Rolls snacks, Nature Valley Granola Bars and Betty Crocker Fruit Roll-Ups snacks. Be sure to keep an eye out for Box Tops on great products from Kleenex, Ziploc, and Hefty too!

So now, let me get you help your school.  Here’s how, this is a quickie so be on your toes.

What’s up for grabs: $25 gift card to Walmart

Contest Information!

1. The contest start at 4:00 PM CST on Tuesday, August 24th and will end August 31st at noon CST.
2. The contest is open to U.S. Residents only unless otherwise specified.
3. The winner will be given 48 hours to reply with a mailing address and then another winner will be chosen.
4. The winner will be chosen via Random.org’s Random Integer Function
5. Most of my giveaways require one entry and I give tons of bonus entries. Each additional entry is always optional and EACH ONE MUST BE LEFT IN A SEPARATE comment to count.  If you don’t follow the giveaway rules I will just delete your comment.
6. I don’t like to devote posts to winners nor do I like to mention it in my posts.   My plan is to keep those posts in the pages area in the right sidebar, I will simply mark them closed with the information to identify to the winner in the post until the prizes have been claimed by the winner.  Please make sure jareason@gmail.com is white listed in your email so that you can receive information from me regarding contests

Giveaway sponsors are responsible for shipping prizes that are offered on Mom~E~Centric. Please allow 6-8 weeks for delivery of any prizes won. If you do not receive your item AFTER that time, please email me and I will follow up with them.

Mandatory Entry:

The mandatory entry will be for the reader leave a comment here about your favorite treat and then return to the contest post and leave a comment identifying that product or if that is not possible, leave a comment about what you would do with the product if you won it.

Extra Entries: Various Combos of this Can and Will be Used

1. 5 extra entries will be awarded for subscribing to Mom~E~Centric.

2.  5 extra entries will be awarded for posting about this contest on your blog, you must return and leave a comment with the link to the exact url of your post, not your general url.  If you have multiple blogs, you can post about this contest once on each of your blogs and receive 5 extra entries for each blog.

3.  1 extra entry each will be awarded for following me on Twitter @The_Jerri_Ann .   If  you already follow me, leave your twitter name, if you are just following me, come back and leave your twitter name so I know to look for you so I can follow you back.

4.   2 extra entry each will be awarded for bookmarking each post in places like Digg, Kirtsy, Technorati, etc.   You can get 2 extra entry for each place you bookmark it but you must leave that information in separate comments.

5.  1 extra entry each will be awarded for bookmarking any other post on this blog to any of those same bookmarking sites listed above. You may do this as often as possible with as many posts and as many bookmarking sites, however you MUST leave a separate comment for each.  (I realize this one is a bit far fetched and out there but hey, some folks have all next week….anyway, naturally it’s an extra entry but could get you some massive entries)

6.  1 extra entry each for tweeting about this contest with @The_Jerri_Ann and the link to this contest in your tweet.  You can do this a maximum of 5 times a day.

Disclaimer: Mom~E~Centric’s reviews and its author assume no liability for damages associated with any prizes awarded here or contents contained therein. Prizes lost in the mail or those not delivered by sponsors are not the responsibility of Mom~E~Centric or its author. Prizes not claimed within two weeks of notification to the winner will have to be forfeited.

Entrants must be 18 years of age or older to enter, and entrants must follow state and local laws concerning sweepstakes.

The gift card, information, and giveaway were all provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.”

There is a huge contest going on to honor educators everywhere. And, Tiny Prints is a great company to make that happen. Here’s my thoughts, we had a great kindergarten teacher for Walker and his first grade teacher was equally as wonderful. As we head into second grade, I can’t wait to embark on a new teacher. She is a former high school classmate of mine and peer but she is going to need a ton of support. I hope I can get that to her.

Here’s what you need to do to get your favorite teacher a set of guards to use as they greet their new students.

Tiny Prints has offered up this:

To honor teachers everywhere who are preparing for their school year, Tiny Prints has designed greeting cards to meet their needs.  They can send each student a personalized welcome greeting card, connect with their student’s parents with a thank you card and celebrate their students with award cards.  In support of building a connection between teachers, students and parents, Tiny Prints is offering these personalized greeting cards for free starting Monday, August 2nd through October 31, 2010.  Teachers will just need to apply the code: Apple2010 at checkout.

And, don’t miss out on the Tiny Prints Teacher Greeting Card Twitter Party with the tag #makeitpersonal this Wednesday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. ET/1:00 to 2:00 p.m. PT. 

There’s so much going on and I’m just going to toss the thoughts out there…..

1.  I spend hours building a site for my son’s school and when the administrator who has been so grateful contacted the computer technology person at the board, he said it wouldn’t work.  So, all those hours were just dumped in the toilet.  Piss me off?  Depress me?  Absolutely yes to both of them…..

2.  I made a professional move.  And, to be honest, I think I did what I was asked to do and not only will someone else get the credit for what I did, I won’t even get the behind the scenes promises that were made kept.  And, that is very disheartening considering how hard I’ve been pushing all the buttons and working all the avenues….

3.  My son goes to a great school.  I’ve been working with some awesome folks there.  Yet, all kinds of things happen that make me wish we could do it another way.  For instance, today’s note came wielding news of lice.  Lovely eh?

4.  Money…….there’s just never enough of it, need I say more??

SOCIAL MEDIA LOCALS SURPRISE A TEACHER WITH SCHOOL SUPPLIES

ON BEHALF OF THE “A DAY MADE BETTER” NATIONWIDE CAUSE

Women in Social Media Collected School Supplies for a Needy Teacher

to Help Erase Teacher-Funded Classrooms with OfficeMax and Adopt-A-Classroom

WHAT: Local women in social media will surprise a teacher at school with a gift of classroom supplies they collected on behalf of the “A Day Made Better” nationwide cause founded in support of teachers by Adopt-A-Classroom and OfficeMax.

WHEN: Wednesday, September 30, 2009

WHERE: Lupton Elementary and Junior High School

WHY: Because teachers spend an average of $1200 out-of-pocket on supplies for their classrooms each year, OfficeMax and Adopt-A-Classroom founded “A Day Made Better” to lead the fight to end teacher-funded classrooms. On October 6, 1,000 teachers across the country will receive surprise deliveries of $1,000 in school supplies in celebration of their extraordinary efforts. Leading up to this date, women in social media are hosting surprise events in their hometowns to help encourage support for teachers in their communities. Since 2007, the “A Day Made Better” cause has contributed to the funding of more than 10,000 classrooms through Adopt-A-Classroom. To learn more about the cause, visit www.adaymadebetter.com.

The Contest was run here on my blog, Just Call Me a Max Mom – no really, it’s true – UPDATED ENTRY RULES

And, a winner has been chosen:

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You’ll have to follow the story….

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On Whrrl

See the rest of the story..